Fix You
by Kaylasue
Summary: What would happen in my perfect world. Tristan returns for Season 6 only to find a very different Rory Gilmore from the one he left.
1. Tears Come Streaming Down Your Face

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. I may borrow a future plot from Jane Austen, haven't quite yet decided. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

**And the Tears Come Streaming Down Your Face**

Rory Gilmore felt alone for the first time in her life. Sure, she had her grandparents that had so generously agreed to let her live in their beautiful pool house and her mischievous boyfriend that allowed her to feel alive with the daring things that they did together, but something was missing. She hadn't spoken to her mother for almost three full weeks and the absence that their estranged relationship left was a deafening reminder of her mistakes from the past year.

"Why did I have to go and mess everything up?" she asked her reflection, "Why didn't I just accept what Mitchum Huntzberger told me instead of flying off the handle? So I'm not cut out to be a journalist, I could do something else."

A knock at the bathroom door jarred her out of her thoughts.

"Rory, dear, are you alright?"

"Yes Grandma, I was just freshening up," answered Rory as she washed her tear stained face. P_lease don't let anyone notice how red my eyes are_ she silently pleaded as she turned the door handle open.

"Oh my, maybe you should go powder your nose; your face is all blotchy. Do you feel alright? Maybe you should just skip the dinner party tonight," Emily said nervously.

"I'm fine Grandma, besides I wouldn't miss your party. You've been planning it for weeks now and I can't wait to meet your friends."

"Well, it's settled then. Now I don't want you to worry, Mitcum Huntzberger wasn't invited," The disdain in her voice made Rory cringe, "Logan should be here soon though."

This news didn't exactly ease Rory's anxiety, it added to it. _I haven't spent more than twenty minutes face to face with Logan since the car ride to the police station._ The realization made her feel queasy and uncertain.

"When you finish freshening your makeup I want you to come down stairs, I didn't even realize you had snuck up here but the guests have almost all arrived," Emily stated matter-of-factly, "I just know everyone is going to love you."

"Especially when they hear about my community service project that's part of my parole," Rory mumbled sarcastically on her way to track down some face powder.

_I am the only person here under the age of twenty-five. Where is Logan? _Rory thought to herself as one of Richard's friends asked her about her plans for the future.

"It is so nice to see you again; I believe we met at your grandfather's party to celebrate his new business a few years ago. Where do you go to school Rory?"

Rory hated this question, how could she tell these people that she doesn't go to school anymore and she has no clue what to do with her life without disgracing her grandparents? "I went to Yale last year, if you'll please excuse me I need to go freshen up."

When she found herself in a quiet corner she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Logan's number. On the third ring she hung up_. It's probably better that he not come; it will only complicate things more. _But still she hoped that he would come reprieve her from this mess.

"Rory! There you are. I was just telling my friend about you, it seems you went to school with his grandson," Richard explained, "Rory I would like you to meet Janlen Dugrey, Janlen my granddaughter Rory,"

Rory visibly blanched. _This is Tristan's grandfather. I haven't even heard about Tristan in almost five years._ "It's nice to meet you sir, I remember your grandson well. Tristan and I had a few classes together."

"It is nice you finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you over the years," Janlen replied.

"Oh, I'm sure I could never live up to all the nice things my grandfather has told you, he is far too kind," responded Rory humbly.

"Well if everything I've heard was from you Grandfather then I might buy into your modesty. However, quite a lot of the praise has been from Tristan himself," explained the kind man.

This confused Rory. _Why would Tristan tell his grandfather about me? We barely knew each other and we weren't exactly on friendly terms._ "I'm sorry, will you excuse me? I need to go freshen up."

Rory didn't wait for a response but instead walked dazedly out of the room. Before she could reach the stairs she heard an extremely familiar voice.

"Rory, is that you?"


	2. When You Lose Something You Cant Replace

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. I may borrow a future plot from Jane Austen, haven't quite yet decided. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

Peachykeenjellybean: I'd have to argue. Rory is a runner: she ran from Tristan the first time she kissed him, she ran from Jess the first time she kissed him, she ran to Europe after sleeping with a married man without saying goodbye to said married man, and she ran away with someone else's boat after some guy told her she wouldn't be a journalist. Sounds like a runner, but there's nothing wrong with runners. Besides, Rory always ends up facing those problems; it just takes her time to process.

I hope this chapter is better than the second, I really do.

**When You Lose Something You Can't Replace**

_Please let this not be happening._ Rory thought to herself as she turned around and found herself staring into steely blue eyes, "Tristan, hi."

Tristan didn't know what to think. He had prepared himself for this in case she was here but he still felt like he was standing on uneven ground, "I thought I might run into you here," he said.

"Really?" Rory asked with a confused look on her face, "Why?"

"Well, you grandparents still live here right?" Tristan replied with a raised eyebrow and his patented smirk.

"Oh. Right," _Why do I have to look stupid now of all times_, Rory thought to herself.

"So, what do you say we grab something to drink, maybe some coffee, and catch up Mary?" Tristan again said with his sly smirk and then winced. _I always have to be an ass, why is that?_

Rory gave him an irritated look, "You obviously haven't changed much over the years."

"You're right, that was stupid. I'm really sorry," Tristan looked genuinely apologetic, "It's just that you still look so innocent and undisrupted."

The two had made their way into the kitchen and Rory snatched a notepad and a piece of paper and scribbled down a name and number.

Tristan glanced around, "Where's your mom, I was hoping to finally meet the Great Lorelai. We've never formerly met."

Rory had an upset look on her face as she handed him the note and answered, "I don't know where she is."

"Well, let's go find her," he said and then asked, "What _is_ this?"

"I don't know where she is because I haven't seen her in a few weeks, I'm living with my grandparents," said an exasperated Rory, "And that is the name and number of my parole officer. I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you exactly how not innocent I am."

Tristan was shocked, "You're not living with your mom….You have a PAROLE OFFICER? Wow, a lot has happened in the past couple of years."

"Yeah, life is full of changes," Rory mumbled facetiously.

"What happened? The last time I saw you you were on your way to an Ivy League school and becoming Christiane Amanpour." Tristan was concerned.

"How was military school in North Carolina? What was that like?" Questioned Rory.

"You know, I'm not stupid, I know you're just avoiding my questions," taunted Tristan, "But I'm going to let it slide, for now.

"Military school was interesting, I grew up a lot. I even still wake up at five every morning. At first I fought it and would lie in bed for hours for the first week after I graduated. Then I figured that it was just a part of being a more disciplined person, so I get up and do the same PT routines that they had us do at school."

"Are you going to college?" Rory asked, suddenly interested in this new person that Tristan had become.

"Yeah, I go to Harvard. I was actually surprised the first semester when I didn't run into either you or Paris," Tristan explained, "And then one day, out of the blue, I got this letter from Paris that my parents forwarded to me. Apparently she freaked out towards the end of senior year and had gotten a life coach named Terrence, whatever that is. Anyway, this life coach suggested that she contact people that knew her pre-freak out and I guess that included me. We've been talking ever since."

"Seriously? She never mentioned that to me, I wonder why?" Rory pondered.

"She never told you because I asked her not to. She said you were doing great and I didn't want any old, obnoxious ghosts to haunt you." He replied quietly.

"Tristan, you're not obnoxious," she tried to explain, "You just bothered me a little."

"You are far too kind for your own good," Tristan said with a simple smile, "But you are a horrible liar.

Why don't you explain to me what happened, the last time Paris and I talked she said you were doing fine, you had even gone to Europe with your grandmother over the summer."

"You know it's a long story, I don't know…"

Tristan interrupted, "Maybe I can help you figure some stuff out, you never know."

"It's hard to understand, really"

"Well, make me understand."

"You just don't give up, do you," she sighed, "Well you remember Dean right?"

"Yes, I remember Bag Boy."

"Nice, Tristan, Nice," she said as she rolled her eyes, "Anyway we broke up a while after you left and I started dating this other guy Jess."

"You really got around after I left, missed me that much huh?" he said with a wink.

"You are incorrigible sometimes, really. So after senior year Dean married a girl from Stars Hollow but things started to fall apart a year later. They ended up separating and we started to date again."

"Uh-huh. I see. I wonder though, were these two events connected in any way?"

Rory avoided eye contact, "No. Maybe. I have no idea. Before we started dating he told me the marriage was over it just wasn't official or anything. It doesn't matter now. I'm dating someone else."

"Wow. I'm sorry but that just doesn't seem like you. Dating a married guy, it's not exactly how I pictured your life to be going," Tristan looked down, feeling sorry for Rory, something he never thought would happen.

"Well it wasn't how I saw myself, it's not like I planned it. I mean, Dean and I just have a history, you know? Anyway, this year I really wanted to focus on building a résumé for when I graduated. I was lucky enough to get an internship with Mitchum Huntzberger and I thought things were great. He didn't though and told me that I wouldn't make it as a journalist and I wigged out."

"He told you that you wouldn't make it as a journalist? That's just crazy, that review you did of that ballet, it was hilarious. And your exposé on that secret society, that was a great story. You are a journalist and you're great at it." Tristan couldn't believe that someone would tell this extremely talented girl that she wouldn't achieve her goals.

Rory couldn't believe what she had just heard, in the end Dean didn't even bother reading her articles and just a few weeks before Logan hadn't told her that his father was wrong, he simply said the man was rude. "You read my articles? How many?"

Tristan didn't mean for her to know this about him and he sighed, "Paris sent me the paper, wanted to show me how she was doing. I've probably read most if not all of your stories."

"Thank you, the only people that have told me that Mitchum was wrong are my family, hearing it from someone else makes me feel like maybe I could make it. But Mitchum Huntzberger is still the newspaper guy, I'm sure he knows what he's talking about."

"This still doesn't explain how you got arrested," Tristan said with interest.

"Well, after I wigged from what Mitchum said I just felt like my world was crumbling; I was growing grim about the mouth and wanted to knock peoples'

hats off," Rory said dreamily.

"So you took to sea," the realization dawned on Tristan.

"You've read _Moby Dick_?" Rory was surprised, Tristan never seemed interested in English class, or any class really.

"I am a huge Melville fan. You know I can, in fact, read."

"I'm just surprised is all, I know you can read. So I took to sea by way of a yacht that wasn't mine."

"I can't believe you Rory, that's a pretty stupid thing to do," Tristan couldn't believe that she would put her future at risk like that. _She is smart enough to know that she is capable of anything._

"I seem to remember that you broke into someone's safe, of all people I don't need a lecture from, you certainly top the list," she spat at him.

"That's pretty harsh and hypocritical coming from someone who can't leave the state of Connecticut because they'd violate parole."

"I'm sorry, it's just a little too ironic that you're the one being righteous and I'm the one in trouble."

"That's fair. So you moved in with your grandparents instead of being with your mom. That just doesn't seem like you. I mean your first day at Chilton I can remember feeling so jealous that you're mom was there to pick you up and give you a hug after you had a bad day. And she made that dress for the winter formal and the costumes for the Shakespeare play. I thought you guys were freakishly close."

"We were, but I decided not to go back to Yale and she didn't support my decision. I need to figure some stuff out."

"You're dropping out of school? I can't believe this, it's too surreal," Tristan could not fathom that she would give up that easily, "You have to go to school; you're going to be a journalist."

"No, no I'm not Tristan. I don't know what I'm going to do but I'm not going back to Yale," Rory couldn't believe that the only people who understood her were her grandparents.

"Fine, whatever. How did you even steal a boat, can you even drive one?"

"My boyfriend Logan Huntzberger was with me when it happened. He drove," Rory said angrily, "Besides, none of this is your business."

"You're dating Logan Huntzberger? I can't believe that you would date Logan of all people. Don't you know what kind of a person he is? You know, it doesn't matter. It was nice seeing you Mary," Tristan had a thought, "Although since you're dating Huntzberger I probably couldn't call you that anymore."

"That is low Tristan, even for you. You don't know Logan at all, don't pretend to," she spat at him.

"Rory go home. You'll never be able to replace your mom, not with Logan and not with your grandparents. She's the only person that will always be there for you, Rory," Tristan couldn't believe that this girl that he thought was so incapable of anything other than perfection had messed her life up so badly. _Where was the girl that he wanted so badly in high school? Where was the girl that had made him fall in love with her because she had no regard for what others thought of her?_ He asked himself as he walked out the kitchen door.

"I cannot believe she is with Logan Huntzberger," Tristan said with disgust as he peeled out of the Gilmore's driveway.


	3. You Try Your Best & You Don't Succeed

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. I may borrow a future plot from Jane Austen, haven't quite yet decided. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

Thank you for the beautiful reviews. You guys are too kind. Um this chapter is shorter than the last one but it's where I wanted to leave it. This may be a little spoilerish depending on if ASP has read my mind and plans to make this happen. Just to let you know.

**When You Try Your Best but You Don't Succeed**

"_Rory dropped out of Yale," Lorelai said as she entered the diner._

"_What?" Luke was shocked._

"_She dropped out of Yale and she moved in with my parents, who I _

_went to for help, and they stabbed me in the back. Everything we worked for. _

_All these years. Her whole future. She was supposed to have more than me. _

_She was supposed to have everything. That was the plan. We had a plan."_

"_Okay, I'm sorry. I have to jump in here. Uh, I know you think you have _

_this thing handled, but I can help. First off, we call Yale and we tell them _

_something like, uh, Rory had a chemical imbalance and she was mentally out _

_of her mind when she told them she was dropping out. And then we get her out _

_of your parents house whatever way we can. We lock her up in her room with _

_you, because you can talk anybody into anything. And if worse comes to _

_worst, we will drive her to school every day and we will follow her to class _

_and camp out there to make sure she goes. I'll take morning classes, you _

_take afternoon classes, or the other way around, if it works out better for _

_your schedule. And I know there's a few kinks to work out, the kidnapping _

_thing might be a little problematic but either way, she is not quitting _

_school. This was her dream. I am not going to let this happen._

"_What?"_

"_Luke, will you marry me?"_

"_What?"_

_And then he left. Just stormed out the diner, slamming the door behind him._

"_Okay, way to answer," Lorelai turned to nurse her coffee._

"_Taylor, we need to talk. I want the house. I don't care if you want me to pay more money. I will do anything for that house."_

"_Well Luke, you can't just keep changing your mind, the town elders were very generous in granting you this opportunity. You can't just throw it in their face and expect to say, 'Oops, sorry, I messed up, can I have the house back,' I don't think I need to tell you that it's highly irresponsible."_

"_Taylor, I will own that house, I will do anything for it, anything."_

"_Anything? Well we really could use the money from these shirts for the bike race. And since the bicyclists are so late to arrive no one has bought any shirts."_

"_Fine, Taylor here," Luke said as he threw down a wad of cash and marched back to his diner, "All I want is that house."_

"_Geez. You know when most people are asked a question they answer it. That's just most people but usually your activities are pretty ordinary," Lorelai ranted as Luke entered the diner._

"_Yes. I want to marry you. We are getting married."_

"Sorry I'm late, Lane had a thing and I had to close by myself tonight," Luke apologized as he entered Lorelai's house.

"It's okay, I was just doing stuff," she replied dazedly.

"You okay? You look upset," he glanced at the cordless phone in her hands, "You should just call her; you two can work this thing out."

"I don't think we're going to work this one out, Luke. I should have been more rational; I should have listened and come up with more options. And I shouldn't have gone to my parents for help."

"You two will make up, you are too close to let this wreck you. It's not like you beat her with metal hangers or anything."

Lorelai looked at him in shock, "What? Oh…_Mommy Dearest_, you know your pop culture references sure have improved since we started dating."

"Did you try and call her, did she answer?"

"No, I was pondering calling her and instead I was thinking of that wonderful proposal that I made," Lorelai stated with a twinkle in her eye.

"It certainly was the best one I ever received."

"You're funny," she said as she lightly punched him in the arm, "So, what do you want to watch on this beautiful Friday evening, how does _Edward Scissorhands_ sound?"

"Sounds good as long as I can sleep through it," Luke countered as he closed his eyes.

Lorelai cuddled closer and whispered in his ear, "I don't know if I'd get through this without you, thank you."

"Anything and anytime," he mumbled as he drifted off.


	4. You Love Someone but it Goes to Waste

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. I may borrow a future plot from Jane Austen, haven't quite yet decided. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

**Fair Warning: I had these four chapters written before I posted and this is all I have so far. I probably won't be able to update for a couple of days (hopefully on Friday). My grandmother had a nervous breakdown because her 50th high school reunion is on Saturday and she just realized she has nothing to wear. Needless to say my mom and I promised to take her shopping tomorrow after I work for 8 hours. You're asking how this pertains to you, simple: no update tomorrow. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Problem Child 1: I despise Rogan (no offense to those that love it).**

**Thought's Pen: Thanks for such a kind and detailed review. If I had some cookies I'd give them to you.**

**To those that wanted longer: Hope this satiates your appetites for lengthy chapters.**

**Enough boring stuff. Enjoy!**

**When You Love Someone but it Goes to Waste**

"Ace, sorry I'm late, I had to fend off Colin and Finn from coming," he said as he kissed her, "For some reason I didn't think an appearance from Zeppo and Groucho would make the evening any easier."

"No problem, I was just catching up with an old acquaintance," she said as she entered the living room.

"Oh yeah, anyone I know?" he asked as he glanced around the room, nodding at his parents' friends.

"Um maybe, it was Tristan DuGrey," she said casually.

"You know Tristan DuGrey? Well, you certainly have my condolences," he said sardonically.

"He seemed to think the same thing when I mentioned you. Tristan and I went to high school for two years before he got sent off to military school."

"Serves the guy right, I never liked him," Logan said nervously.

"Really? Most people find him so charming," _Not sure why, I think the guy can be a major jerk._

"Hmm…that must have been what attracted my eighth grade girlfriend to him."

"You two went to the same school?"

"Yeah, there was always this tension between us; we were pretty competitive. We went to Montpelier Academy before he went to Chilton and I was off to St. Andrew's," he stated, "Man, I hate that guy."

"Well, he's not here now. What do you say we go into the dining room for some grub?"

"Sounds good to me Ace."

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"Oh I'm soooo excited! Are you going to have it at the Inn because I have this great recipe that would be perfect: almond butter chicken with an orange glaze. Divine," Sookie couldn't believe that her best friend had finally come to terms with marrying the only constant man in her life.

"You know, I thought about having it at the Dragonfly because it's so beautiful but then I wondered if it would be a conflict of interest, I mean not only would I be worrying as a bride but also as a business owner. I haven't decided," Lorelai was excited about planning for her wedding, it certainly helped that it kept her mind off her daughter that had turned their worlds upside down only a few weeks before, "But that chicken sounds delicious, we should have it for the dinner special tomorrow."

"Oh my god, the bridesmaids' dresses, please tell me I get to be a bridesmaid! Or is it bridesmatron, I am married, is that what you call them? Of course Rory will be the maid of honor, oh I can't wait to see her all dolled up, she is turning into a siren that one, just like you."

"I think it is bridesmatron, and at this point Rory's not even invited to the wedding," Lorelai said as she walked to the coffee maker in the Dragonfly's kitchen.

"You still haven't told her? Haven't you two made up yet," Sookie asked, her voice full of concern.

"She's dropping out of Yale and has moved in with my parents because they support her decision, you know, the same ones that definitely did not support my decision to be an unwed mother," Lorelai said as she downed her fourth cup of coffee, "God, I need this stuff on an IV. Stat. I can't even make good cracks at the medical world anymore."

"It's so weird, you guys have never had a fight last this long. And I don't even want to think about her missing your and Luke's wedding. You two have to figure this stuff out."

"I am not your personal assistant and I don't like having to fetch you," Michel said as he entered the kitchen.

"What is it Michel?"

"That horrible man that wants to buy the Inn and replace me with some whiny young brat is on the phone, he wants to know if you have finished considering the offer."

"Okay, I'll be out there in a minute."

"What are you going to say," Sookie said as she sautéed some asparagus.

"Obviously I'm going to say no thank you. I mean Luke and I discussed it and I just don't think it's fair to take on a job that requires a lot of traveling."

"Good decision. I mean you're not getting any younger and Luke probably wants kids. Oh my god, can you imagine Luke as a father. Wow," the kitchen workers dashed to stop the fire that had started from a stray asparagus on the stove.

"Yeah, kids. We haven't even talked about that yet. Kids with Luke, hmm," Lorelai pondered the thought as she went to take the call from Mike Armstrong.

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"How was your run, Tristan," Janlen asked from the dining room table as he read the _Financial Times_ and nibbled on the dry whole grain toast that his doctor suggested to battle his high cholesterol.

"Just dandy, Grandfather," Tristan said as he sulked into the room.

"Well, you certainly described Rory Gilmore's beauty quite well, although I'd say her eyes are more like a tropical lagoon than a pale blue diamond," Janlen teased, "She was quite charming and from what I hear she's certainly intelligent."

"I think Yale has made her lose some brain cells, turns out she's dating Logan Huntzberger," Tristan said with disdain.

"Hmm. That certainly makes things interesting. It explains why they were sitting next to each other at dinner and also why you left so early," Janlen said with a small smile.

"I don't know why you're not as angry at him as I am. I mean, after what he did I'd think you'd be furious and frankly, a little more supportive of my situation. I also didn't think you'd use this opportunity to laugh at me. You know how much I hate Logan," Tristan sputtered.

"I'm sorry; I'm not laughing at you. Look at this as an opportunity to see exactly how much you have grown up. Anger rarely solves problems Tristan, sometimes being calm in situations can come to your advantage. Hate is a strong word, one you know the full affects of. I believe Rory Gilmore was a part of that scenario as well. Besides, I'm far too old to hold grudges. And you are far too mature to hold grudges with a 21 year old boy. No matter how old Logan gets, as long as he doesn't mature in attitude, he will always be a boy," Janlen seemed to think that this monologue settled the matter and he left Tristan in the dining room to ponder his position.

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"Stella," Tristan announced himself as he entered his sister's room, "Stella, are you alright?"

"Tristan, hello. I'm okay, I was thinking about maybe going and sitting in the atrium today. That sounds nice, doesn't it?" Tristan couldn't believe that this person who looked nothing more than a shell of his sister was full of vitality and life not two years ago.

"That sounds great Stella," he murmured as he stroked her strawberry blonde hair, "Maybe you could pull out your paints and paint me a picture of the koi pond?" Stella hadn't touched her beloved paints in months and he was desperate to see that some of his older sister was still left.

"Oh I don't know," she responded as she looked out the window, "Tristan, is today Wednesday?"

"No Stella, today is Monday, but that's okay," he said warily, "I'm going out for a while but you have my cell number in case you need to reach me, please don't hesitate to call me. I love you," he said as he closed the door behind him.

"I love you and I miss you," he whispered as he rested his head on her closed door.


	5. Stuck in Reverse

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. Part of plot borrowed from the lovely Jane Austen. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

It only took my mom and me an hour to find my grandma an outfit to wear to her reunion. Which cracks me up considering she went through every mall and boutique in our city and she couldn't find anything. How does this pertain to you: you get a review today after all (and it answers the question what happened to Stella?)

**Burning River:** My first discrepancy, damn. Thanks for catching it, though. I'm surprised I let it happen considering Logan being older than Tristan and Rory is an integral part of my story. Hope I fixed it okay in this chapter. And again, thanks.

**PrincessRandom205:** Thanks for the heads up, I had no clue.

**KeitaWolf:** You cracked me up, seriously. You've caught on to my evil (but necessary) plan.

**Problem Child1:** You're my new favorite person, so there. I'm bound to get revenge on ASP for the character assassination that Rory's gone through by annihilating Logan.

I'm glad you guys are enjoying this story so much because I love writing it. It's perfect because in my head it plays out exactly how it should in the show. Brownie points go to who can guess why Logan calls Stella Hunter.

**Stuck in Reverse**

"Thank you so much for meeting me for lunch today," a frazzled Lorelai said, "I really appreciate your offer on the Dragonfly and for the consulting position at your company. However, I recently became engaged to a great guy and one of my best friends and I just don't think now's the right time to travel the world on behalf of your company." Lorelai hoped this man understood. She had taken a backseat to her father's career when she was little and on the off-chance that she and Luke decided to have children, she didn't want to have a career that would be put before their children.

"I understand. However, I'm a little upset that we didn't get to you before this man did, you would have been an excellent addition to our company," Mike Armstrong replied with a smile, to the waiter he asked, "Could you bring the check now, please?"

Tristan DuGrey couldn't believe what he had just heard. Unless Rory had taken his advice, she was probably unaware of her mother's engagement. He recognized the stunning women as soon as she entered the room, of course. She looked so much like Rory that he thought he was looking into the girl's future. It helped that Janlen had pointed her out.

Janlen had asked to meet Tristan for lunch at his favorite restaurant in an effort to cheer his grandson up and upon seeing the striking brunette he regaled Tristan with many of Lorelai's antics. Janlen was comfortable with his position in society but he admired those that worked to break out of it, he understood what some couldn't: Lorelai Gilmore was an independent person that felt most comfortable doing things her own way.

"I find people that eavesdrop on others' conversations tacky but that doesn't stop me from doing it," Janlen proclaimed to the women as she passed him on her way out door, "Congratulations Lorelai."

"Janlen DuGrey? Well, thank you. Geez, it's been awhile since I last saw you. When was the last time? I seem to remember getting chastised by my mother for embarrassing her though, so it shouldn't be too hard to pinpoint the exact occasion," she replied drolly.

"I think it was your father's fiftieth birthday bash," he said with a wink and a smile.

"Oh yes, when I encouraged Pennilyn Lott to do a rendition of Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday" to JFK," she said with a smirk.

"Yes. That was the one," Janlen chuckled, "Lorelai, this is my grandson Tristan, Tristan this is Lorelai Gilmore."

"Nice to meet you Ms. Gilmore," Tristan said politely.

"Please, call me Lorelai. Don't I know you from somewhere?"

"Um, I don't think so," he said as he glanced at his grandfather.

"Oh, yes I do. Tristan DuGrey. Right, you're the guy that called my daughter Mary. You know, that term was used when I was in high school. It's a little disappointing that Janlen's grandson couldn't come up with a better insult," she said as she looked him in the eye.

"Well, it seemed to suit her just fine, so yeah," he finished lamely, "It is unoriginal, but I liked it." Tristan could tell that he would have to stay on his toes in this woman's presence.

Lorelai smiled, "What have you been up to Janlen? Have you taken over my father's former empire yet," she asked about the business firm that Janlen had joined after Richard had departed.

"No, but I did attend a party at your parents' house last Sunday, it was a delicious dinner," he stated, "I even had the chance to meet your lovely daughter. It was a flashback to when you were younger except without the antics, I assure you."

"Oh. A dinner party? Well that's nice, I'm sorry I couldn't be there to have seen you then," she was unsure of how her mother had explained her absence, though frankly she didn't care.

"Yes, it was interesting to catch up with Rory. I was surprised and disappointed that she ended up at Yale instead of Harvard, and at other things as well," Tristan said tactfully.

Lorelai turned to look at Tristan, giving him her full attention, "I was disappointed as well," she said quietly, "Well, it was great meeting you Tristan. Janlen, I certainly hope to run into both you and your grandson again. Here is my business card for the Inn that I own; I would love to see you both stop by for lunch sometime. We have a marvelous chef," she said before turning and leaving.

"I wonder if Rory knows that her mother is getting married," Janlen said as he watched the door close behind her.

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Rory Gilmore hated to wait. Especially when she was angry and had moxie coming out her ears.

"Mary, sorry you had to wait so long, I just got back from lunch with my grandfather," Tristan said as he rushed into the sitting room.

"I don't like waiting," she said bitterly.

"Like I said, I didn't know you were coming," he said as he avoided her glare, he didn't feel like getting into it with her now.

"You had no right to come into my grandparents' house and berate me and my boyfriend like you did. So you two had regular pissing contests before Logan went to high school, so what? You would think you'd learn not to hold stupid grudges that happened in middle school," she said angrily.

"He told you we had 'pissing contests'," Tristan asked with disdain. And then he remembered that Stella was close by in the atrium, "Can we take this outside please," he asked as he pulled Rory outside.

"What is wrong with you, it's like a hundred degrees out here," exclaimed Rory.

"If you must know my sister is ill and I didn't want different and angry voices to frighten her," he said while looking at the patio.

"You have a sister?" Rory asked.

"Yeah."

"And she's not well?"

"No."

"Is she going to be okay?" Suddenly Rory's anger had fizzled, which just pissed her off even more.

"I hope so, I really miss her," he said as he kicked at a loose stone.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, not really wanting to deal with someone else's problems, but feeling bad none-the-less.

"So Logan said my problem with him had to do with 'pissing contests'?" Tristan asked bypassing the topic all together.

"Well, yeah. Logan said you stole his eighth grade girlfriend to show your friends that you could get her to date you even though you were younger," she said as she wrinkled her forehead in confusion.

"Right. That's the way it went down. That's also my only reason for not liking the guy," he said facetiously, "Have you talked to your mom lately?" Tristan was curious to see if Rory had followed his advice and if she knew about Lorelai's engagement.

"No, and that is also none of your business," she retorted.

"Well, I think you should. Only because I think there's something you should know," he said seriously as he looked in her eyes.

"Why? Is something wrong?" the concern creased her forehead.

"No, you'd probably think something was right, though," he said as an afterthought.

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Unfortunately for Tristan, Stella had in fact heard Rory's outburst and it hurled her two years into the past.

"_Hi Finn, Colin," Stella DuGrey said as she entered the boys' suite._

"_Hey luv," Finn responded as he kissed the green eyed beauty's cheek._

"_Hey," grunted Colin._

"_Is Logan around?" she asked, a hint of anxiety in her voice._

"_In his room."_

"_I think that's the longest sentence you've uttered since you were wasted singing "It's Raining Men" at the last LDB get together," Stella responded smugly._

"_You okay luv, you look tired. You're not working too hard on my term paper are you?" Finn asked with a chuckle._

"_Har Har," Stella said as she opened Logan's door._

"_Hey Hunter," Logan said as he kissed Stella on the forehead._

"_I missed you yesterday."_

"_Hmm? Oh yeah, I got caught up with the guys. I was too busy robbing Robert, man is he a bad poker player," Logan said with a laugh._

"_I have something to tell you that I'm not sure will go over well," Stella said quietly._

"_What is it?" Logan asked absentmindedly._

"_I'm pregnant," her voice was barely audible but it was the words that haunted Logan in his nightmares._

_He took a deep breath. "Okay, well that won't be too hard to fix. If you don't want to pay for it I will," he said as he flipped through the papers on his desk._

"_How can you even say that?" Stella asked furiously as she stood up, "I'm not having an abortion, that's for sure."_

"_How can you be so sure it's mine," he asked with disinterest._

"_Just because you're fucking other people doesn't mean I am!" Stella shouted._

"_Listen, I'm sorry that you're pregnant. If you want to keep the baby that's fine. Let my dad's lawyer know how much you want a month for child support, but I told you when we started this that I wasn't the boyfriend type. I warned you but you wanted to do this anyway. I'm not exactly the father type either so, with the exception of assisting financially, I don't want a part in this," Logan said as he looked straight into Stella's emerald eyes that were brimming with tears._

"_Excuse me? Do you hear how big of an ass you're being? I don't want your money, I have plenty of my own—"_

_Logan interrupted, "If you don't mind, I have a test tomorrow that I probably should glance at my notes for."_

"_You are un-fricking –believable," Stella muttered as she stormed into the common room, "I don't want to talk Finn," she said as the Aussie followed her out of the suite._

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After apologizing to Rory for criticizing her, refusing to apologize for berating Logan, and successfully avoiding further questions about Lorelai (because Tristan believed it was important that Rory hear it from her own mother) Tristan was exhausted as he climbed the stairs to his sister's room.

"Stella, what's wrong? Why are you crying," he asked his hysterical sister.

"I'm so sorry Tristan, I'm so sorry," Stella sobbed as she rocked back and forth.

"Shhh. You didn't do anything wrong," he said as sadness washed over his body.

"Yes, yes I did. I wasn't strong enough. I loved him and I wanted him to come back after he left so I killed my baby. I just wanted him to come back to me," she whimpered.

"It's not your fault Stella. Not at all. Logan should have taken some responsibility. He shouldn't have told you he wanted you to have an abortion and he shouldn't have run off to Fiji or wherever the hell he sunk that boat," Tristan said, desperate for his sister to believe him so that she could get over the depression and be angry instead. He hated that she blamed herself.

"No, he left me and I couldn't do it. I thought if he heard that I went through with the abortion that he'd come back to me, I'm a horrible, terrible person," she argued.

Tristan did the only thing he could: he sat and held her as she rocked back and forth, holding tight and whispering in her ear that she was in fact a great person, the best sister he could ever ask for, the whole while praying that something like this would never happen to Rory and her mother. He thought to himself, _No one should have to see a loved one deal with so much grief._


	6. And High Up Above or Down Below

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. Part of plot borrowed from the lovely Jane Austen. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

**Problem Child1:** seems we have a kindred spirit in Cupid's Bride, check out her review: "aw crap... geez, Logan's an ass. Gimme a spatula, a screwdriver, a rope and molasses or honey. I'm gonna beat his head with the spatula, castrate him with the screwdriver, tie him 'round a tree and pour honey or molasses on him then sic an entire beehive on him. Just give me the opportunity and I will. Bastard."

**Cupid's Bride: **You're review cracked me up. If I could send you into the fictional world of Stars Hollow, I would gladly grant you your wish.

**PrincessRandom205:** It's nice to know that you like my story so much to have so many interesting questions…that I hope to reveal the answers to soon.

**PeanutButterLover1399: **Thank you for your great review.

Problem Child1 gets the bonus points: She asked if it was an _On the Waterfront_ thing. I'm going to give it to her because of Mr. Brando. Marlon Brando starred in both _On the Waterfront_ and _A Streetcar Named Desire_ where Brando shouts out the famous line "STEEELLLA!" The beautiful Kim Hunter played the famous role of Stella Kowlaski in both the original stage production written by Tennessee Williams and the movie, for which she won an Oscar.

**And High Up Above or Down Below**

"Hello," Lorelai said into the phone, exhausted from an already long morning at the Inn.

"Hello?" She asked impatiently into the silence. And then she heard it. Someone had let a small and quiet sob escape their mouth.

"Rory?" Lorelai asked, panicked.

"I'm so sorry mom," Rory said, "I don't like not talking to you."

"Me either," Lorelai did nothing to hide the hurt in her voice, "Does this mean that you're coming home?"

"Not yet, I don't know. And I'm not saying that I'm going to Yale in the fall either," Rory felt it was fair for her mom to know everything before accepting her apology, "But I'm not ruling it out, either."

"Okay," Lorelai paused for what seemed like forever to Rory, "We could work on that," she finally said with a sigh.

"So what does this mean?" Rory hiccupped.

"Well, I have a lot of stuff going on at work this morning; can you meet me for lunch at the Dragonfly? I still can't even walk by Weston's," she muttered while looking around the Inn's lobby.

"Yeah, I'll be there around noon, is that okay? There's a lot I want to talk to you about," Rory said as a few more tears cascaded down her cheek.

"You have no idea," Lorelai said, thankful that she'd finally be able to tell her daughter about her engagement.

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"Rory, I need to talk to you," A rushed Paris ordered as Rory answered her cell phone.

"Where are you?" a confused Rory asked.

"Home," Paris stated, "Where else? Anyways, I'll be at your house in like ten minutes," the words poured out of Paris' mouth.

"Paris, Stars Hollow is like a half hour away from Hartford," Rory said exasperated.

"So?"

"So, you can't…Oh never mind, I'm at my Grandparents' house," she sighed, frustrated.

"Oh, good. I'll be there in two,"

"You don't know—" Rory got cut off by the click when Paris hung up the phone. Rory had been about to tell her that she needed her Grandparents' address, already resigned to the fact that Paris was coming. Rory knew the point at which there was no stopping Paris, and she was way past that point when on the phone.

"Thank God, Gilmore. I have a serious problem on my hands," Paris said as she stormed into the pool house, "That sluggish maid pointed me back here," she said crashing against the sofa.

"No problem Paris, now what's wrong," Rory asked, completely disinterested.

"Doyle wants to get married," she said in a huff.

Rory choked on air, "What? You guys are too young to get married. Did he propose? When?" Rory stood up and walked around the room. Doyle and Paris' relationship had always made Rory nauseous. However, the thought was not as discomforting as Asher and Paris' relationship.

"No, he didn't make it official or anything. He just started talking about marriage, kids and white picket fences," she said, as if the thought living in a house with a picket fence disgusted her.

"Well was he talking about his own future or a future specific to both him and you," Rory asked slowly.

"I think he was speaking generally, but come on? Like I would marry Doyle," she said with a snicker.

"Well, did you tell him that you weren't even thinking about marriage, that you couldn't even see yourself getting married?"

"No," Paris admitted quietly, "I hung up on him and called you."

"Paris! You can't just hang up on someone when you're having a casual conversation, it's not nice," Rory said outraged, "Doyle probably thinks something happened to you, did he call you back?"

"Yeah, I can't answer the phone. I'm sorry, I had to talk to someone. These decisions have been tough without Terrence around to help. I can't believed I fired his ass," Paris said huffily.

"You're certifiable," Rory muttered, "Just tell him that you aren't ready to think about marriage yet, that you're still young."

"Ok, fine," muttered Paris, "Hey. I heard you ran into Tristan," she stated, looking to change the subject and slightly interested in hearing Rory's perspective on the exchange.

Rory snorted, "Yeah, it was fun, trust me," she said sarcastically.

"Are you seriously thinking about dropping out of Yale?" Paris asked with disbelief.

"Maybe, I don't know what I'm going to do," she said avoiding Paris' gaze, "Although I don't appreciate him telling you that, it's none of your business, or his for that matter," she muttered angrily.

"Well, he was mad. Couldn't believe you gave up because of Mitchum Huntzberger and got arrested. If someone had told me last year that you would be arrested I would have laughed and asked if they had you mistaken for me," Paris said with a grin.

"You're not funny," Rory retorted lamely.

"Good one Gilmore," the two settled into their very odd camaraderie.

"Paris, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Paris said while examining the nail that she just bit off.

"What's wrong with Tristan's sister?"

Paris stopped, blanched and looked at Rory, "He told you about Stella?"

"Her name is Stella?" Rory asked, a smile on her lips as she remembered her mom naming a baby chick Stella that Rory had had as an assignment.

"Yeah, Stella DuGrey. Best sister I never had."

"You two were friends?"

"I don't know. I think she felt sorry for me. It was more that she allowed me to be her friend than anything, sort of like with you," she said as an after-thought, "She told Tristan that he should be nice to me because I had the makings of a great friend. She used to let me follow them around. Stella and Tristan were so close because they were really all the family they had, except for Janlen," Paris added.

"What happened to her?" Rory asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Well, her freshman year at Yale she was dating some guy that knocked her up. He wanted her to have an abortion and she refused. He fled off to Europe or something like that," she said wracking her brain for details, "Anyway, she had the abortion because she thought he'd come back to her if she did. I think the doctor took a part of her that day. He never did come back. The abortion compounded with the rejection just left her empty. You know?" Paris glanced at Rory for some understanding.

"Yeah, I know," Rory murmured.

"I don't remember who the guy was, but I do remember that it's one of the things that made Tristan so miserable junior year. It was like losing her, he just rebelled against life I think," she said with a glazed expression in her eyes.

"Is that why he was always pulling those stunts?" Rory asked meekly.

"He never admitted it, but that has to be a part of the reason. He was so angry," Paris couldn't believe that Tristan had even mentioned Stella. He made her promise to defend and silence the rumors before he left for North Carolina, even though he never told her the whole story. He always thought that she'd get better, that it would be as easy as waking from a nap and he didn't want her to awaken to the harshness of Hartford society.

"Wow, what a jerk," Rory mumbled.

"No kidding," Paris said as she shook her head.

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"I missed you, kid," Lorelai said quietly, still not ready to forgive her daughter.

"I missed you too…Holy free holies, Batman," Rory murmured as she noticed the small diamond ring on her mother's left hand, "What does that mean," Rory asked, her blue eyes huge.

"It means I'm getting married," Lorelai said with a smile and a shrug.

"To Luke? This is so great, I can't believe it. Well I can because I always knew you were meant to be together, but still. You have to tell me all about it, when did he do it?" Rory asked, excited but sad that she missed it, "I should have talked to you sooner." _How did Tristan find out about this before me, it's not like the information had been passed through the Hartford gossip mill._

"Well, it's funny. I asked him to marry me," Lorelai said quietly.

Rory couldn't believe that her mother, the eternal commitment-phobe had proposed marriage to someone, let alone Luke. "When?"

"The night I got back from your grandparents'. He was sitting there telling me that he wouldn't let you drop out of Yale and I just asked him to marry him," she finished as an uncomfortable silence settled between them.

"Oh. Well, I'm happy for you." Rory said awkwardly as the two sat down for lunch.

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"G'day mate," Finn said as he walked past Tristan into the DuGrey mansion.

"Hey Finn, I wasn't sure you'd be coming today," he replied as they walked up the stairs.

"Really? I've come to visit every other week since I got back from…well, you know," he said, not wanting to remind Tristan that he had been the one to help Logan run off.

"Yeah, I forgot to call you, she had a bad day on Monday and I didn't want you to stir up old memories. But you're here now and I wouldn't want to waste your time."

"Seeing Stella is never a waste of time," Finn said in a rare moment of seriousness, "I'm just sorry I was off in Fiji when she went through the worst," his voice full of regret.

"Stella," Tristan said as he knocked on her door.

"I can take it from here, mate. And don't worry, I won't speak of the past at all," he said as he walked into the room, "Stella, my love, you look ravishing, as always," Finn sang as he closed the door behind him.

Tristan descended down the stairs as the doorbell rang. _There is no rest for the wary. _

"Rory," he said, obviously surprised.

"I can't believe I'm such an ass," she said as she walked into the sitting room that she had been shown to just yesterday.

Tristan sighed and followed right behind her, "What do you mean?"

"I came to apologize. And to thank you for telling me to call my mom," she said as she looked down at her feet.

"Does that mean you guys talked?" Tristan asked, "Rory?" He wanted to make sure she wasn't afraid to look him in the eye.

"Yes," she said looking up, "How did you know she was engaged?" she asked, interested.

"My grandfather and I overheard her declining a job offer, saying that she wanted to start a family. I figured you might want to know," he said shuffling his feet, "Do you want to sit down?"

"Sure," she said as she sat in an armchair.

Tristan sat the chair opposite her and looked at her expectantly.

"What," she asked, suddenly nervous.

"Did you make up with her?" he asked simply.

"Well, we are on speaking terms. She's still a little upset because I'm not going to move back in with her yet and I still have no plans on returning to Yale. Other than that, we're okay," she sighed; she knew they had a long way to go before things returned to normal.

"Why were you so upset when you found out about everything?"

"What do you mean," he asked.

"Well, you got mad after you found out about Yale, getting arrested, and Logan," she said as she looked down at her hands.

"I guess things didn't turn out the way I thought that they would for you," he murmured.

"You thought about how my life would be," she asked, amazed.

"Well when I left, you and Paris were really the only people I said goodbye to. At military school I guess it was just easier to cling to your memory than Paris'," he grimaced, "I mean, I imagined both you and Paris at Harvard competing and bickering, of course. I imagined you happy, working for the paper, and dating someone who really cared about you."

"Well, that's close to how it is: Paris and I sometimes compete and are always bickering, we're just at Yale instead. I am, or was, happy and on the paper and I am dating someone that really cares about me," she stated as she observed the painting past Tristan's ear.

"So where was Logan while you were suffering through that dinner party on Sunday," he asked, incredulous.

"He was late, he had to do something with some of his friends," she stated lamely.

"Did he tell you how beautiful you looked that night?" He asked, looking her straight in her eyes.

"As a matter of fact, he told me that I looked great. Besides, you can't tell whether he cares about me simply by whether or not he compliments me," she said exasperated.

"That's not true. You looked beautiful, not 'great' and if I had a girlfriend that looked like you, I'd probably tell her that she looked beautiful everyday, whether she was dressed in a cocktail dress or a pair of sweats."

Rory rolled her eyes, "Logan says that all the time: 'Rory, you look beautiful,'" she said, gesturing with her hands.

"Is he looking at a mirror when he says that?"

"Not funny, Tris," she said as she smirked at him.

"It was a little funny. Anyway, are you going to be okay," the concern was eminent on his face.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I just wanted to thank you for telling me to talk to my mom, I hate that I missed it, the engagement I mean."

"You know, I am worried about you. Logan has a 'colorful' history," he warned tactfully.

"Logan wouldn't do anything to hurt me. Besides, it's not like I'm fragile or anything."

Rory cleared her throat, "I was sorry to learn about what happened to your sister," she said quietly.

"Funny you should bring that up now," Tristan breathed.

"Why is that?"

"No reason," as much as Tristan wanted Rory to know what a creep Logan was, he knew she wouldn't believe him if he told her the truth.

"Inquired to your grandparents? You shouldn't believe everything you hear, it probably wasn't the truth," he replied nonchalantly.

"Paris told me," she said as she gazed into his stormy eyes.

"I'm assuming she didn't tell you who the guy was," Tristan said as he coldly returned her gaze.

"No, she didn't," as much as Rory wanted to know who the mystery cretin was, she was too proud to ask.

"Hmm. Well, it's for the best. You probably don't know him anyway.

"You were right, mate. Stella must have had a horrible week, she keeps talking about the baby and L—Rory!" Finn stopped dead in his tracks as he spotted his best friend's girlfriend. He glanced at Tristan, "What are you doing here, luv?"

"I went to high school with Tristan, we ran into each other at my grandparents' dinner party on Sunday and I stopped by to say 'hello'. What are you doing here? You know Stella?"

Finn cringed, "You know about Stella?"

"Well, Paris told me about it, yeah," she said, confusion wrinkling her brow.

"I was just telling Rory that she probably didn't know the guy so there was no reason to give a name," Tristan interjected weakly.

"Oh," said Finn looking awkwardly from one to the other, "I guess that means you know she's dating Logan then, Tristan?"

"What does that have to do with Stella?" Rory asked, bewildered.

A/N: I promise more Trory soon. I just find it hard to imagine that Tristan would swoon over Rory because of Logan and the things she is dealing with…maybe after she realizes what a bad, bad man Logan is.


	7. Lights Will Guide You Home

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. Part of plot borrowed from the lovely Jane Austen. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

**Cupid's Bride:** I would love to respond to your fantastically long review but I'd probably have to write a whole other chapter and no one else would be interested in reading. Since you don't have an email address listed, email me, mine is in my profile.

**Problem Child1: **I agree, Logan hate is the new Finn love. Logan's a perfectly okay character I just know that ASP is using him as a replacement for Tristan. Which sucks. Why did One Tree Hill have to go and be so successful? There was a certain on screen chemistry between Alexis and Chad that lacked between Alexis and Jared/Milo/Matt. In my opinion it was a lot like the on screen chemistry that Lauren and Scott have. They just make the banter seem so effortless…and the sexual tension? Thick enough to need a butcher's cleaver. So this was a huge rant but I had to voice my opinion on the Rory/Tristan dynamic because it appeals to me much more than any other of her relationships.

**Lights Will Guide You Home**

"Finn, what does Logan and I dating have to do with Stella," she asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

Finn liked Rory, he had from the moment he met her. She was funny, smart and she didn't take his, or anyone's, crap. He thought that Rory should have been told about Stella and the details of the trip to Fiji but he was not the kind of person to interfere in his friends' affairs. He had mentioned to Logan once that he should tell Rory and it soon became clear to him that Logan had no intention of doing so. Finn looked into her eyes and chose his words carefully, "It has everything to do with Stella, luv," he said softly.

The room started to spin as the air was sucked from Rory's lungs. It felt as if someone had kicked her in the stomach, making her unable to breathe and nauseous. She couldn't believe this was happening. She knew that Logan wasn't perfect but who was? He cared about her, treated her alright; she just couldn't believe that he would do that.

The boys looked on in shock, Tristan worried that Rory would faint and Finn immediately regretted telling the secret, "Mary, you don't look good. You should sit down," Tristan said as he took a step forward, "Rory. Rory, look at me,"

Tristan's voice pulled her out of the fog and she looked at his blue eyes, the concern eminent. Her eyes were wide and brimming with tears. She didn't know what to do, how to handle this. So, she did the only thing that seemed rational at the time, she turned around and fled.

Finn couldn't believe what was happening. This was not how he had planned to spend his evening; he was supposed to be getting wasted with that blonde that he met yesterday, "Please tell me that that's not your Mary," Finn said with a groan. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse.

Tristan had forgotten about that weekend that he went to stay with Stella. It was right after the incident in the courtyard where Rory had told Dean that she hated Tristan and he was so frustrated. Stella had insisted he come stay with her so that the two of them could figure out how to get Rory to like him. What ensued was Tristan getting lectured by Logan, Finn and Colin on how to be charming and witty without being such an ass, "Yep," he replied, "That's her," he said right after the front door slammed shut behind Rory.

Finn sighed, "We can't just let her leave, mate. There's no way she could drive like that," Finn said as he and Tristan peered out the windows and watched her swerve out of Tristan's driveway.

"Where do you think she's going?" Tristan asked with a sigh.

"Home?"

"She's not on good terms with her mom," Tristan mumbled.

"Then I'm betting she went to Logan's. He's the only friend she has left to sort this stuff out with," Finn said sadly.

"I'm guessing you want me to go," Tristan said as he kicked at the rug.

"Well, I do have a date tonight," Finn replied.

"Nuh uh, if I go after Rory you have to stay here in case Stella needs anything. Juanita has the rest of the week off," Tristan said, referring to the only full-time staff member his grandfather still had, "Her daughter's getting married this weekend."

"I'll stay with Stella," Finn mumbled, "After all, what are friends for," he said as Tristan grabbed his coat and keys.

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"Ace, what are you doing here? We didn't have a date did we?" Logan asked, completely confused.

Rory hated this place; it was where she had had that horrible dinner with Logan's parents. It screamed of the same arrogance that they had that night. Even though Tristan's grandfather's house was just as large, it didn't seem to scream out, "Hey, we're loaded!" nearly as much as Logan's did.

"No, we didn't have a date. I need to talk to you," she said brushing past him into the living room.

Logan was worried; Rory was crying and looked half crazy: her eyes were wide and bloodshot and her skin was paler than usual, "Okay, what's going on?"

"Why did you go off to Fiji?" she asked abruptly.

"I told you Ace, I was stressed and decided to take some time off to figure stuff out. Just like you're doing this year," he pointed out.

"So it has nothing to do with Stella DuGrey?" she asked, disbelieving.

"Where did you...whatever Tristan told you, it was a lie. You can't believe what you heard. He has no idea what he's talking about," Logan spat petulantly.

"That's the thing, Logan. Tristan only told me that his sister was ill, Paris told me why, and your friend Finn told me that you were the one behind it all. So, I'm pretty sure I can believe what I heard."

Logan sat there, thinking about how he could rationalize this to Rory.

"How could you treat her like that?" she asked, obviously upset.

"Listen, she and I had an open relationship, like ours before you said you couldn't do that anymore. She knew I wouldn't commit; she only got pregnant because she thought she could trap me," he said, trying to project the blame on anyone but himself.

"Do you hear yourself? You're asking me to believe that an Ivy League student thought that the best way to get her boyfriend to commit was by getting pregnant. Me, of all people Logan. You know my parents didn't plan on getting pregnant. It was hard on my mom, it's not easy to raise a kid when you're trying to get an education," Rory ranted.

"Stella was very needy. She didn't get much attention from her parents and she was looking for someone else to give it to her. Besides, I didn't force her to have the abortion. I cared about her, I did. I wanted her to do what she thought was best for her."

"Of course you forced her to have the abortion, she was trying to do what she thought would make you happy, she only wanted you to come back to her. When are you going to take responsibility for your actions?"

"Geez Rory, lighten up. You sound like my mom," he said as he rubbed his eyes.

"I don't know who you are anymore. I don't…I don't know who I am anymore," she sobbed, "If treating Stella like that is how you treat the people you care about then I don't think I want to be one of those people anymore, Logan," Rory whispered.

"Ace, it's not that bad. Go back to your grandparent's and I'll call you tomorrow. We need to sit on this stuff, figure out what we want to say," Logan said as he ushered her to the door. He kissed her temple and closed the door behind her.

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Tristan had been sitting in his car, debating whether to knock on the Huntzberger's door. He knew Rory was in there because her car was next to his. Suddenly he saw the front door open and Logan kissing Rory on the temple before shutting the door in her face. Rory slumped down onto the porch and started to sob, her head in her hands. Tristan had to do something, so he got out of the car.

"Mary, shhh, don't cry. It'll be okay. What can I do," he asked, not wanting to relive this scenario. This was how he had found Stella when she came home to Hartford for the abortion.

"I want to go away," she breathed out, dying to get away from this house.

"Okay, let's go," He said as he picked her up and carried her to his car, he would call Finn and ask him to get her car. He didn't care how he did it; he just didn't want to have to come back here to get it himself.

The small sobs that would leave Rory's mouth every once in a while were driving him crazy. He just wanted them to stop. He had only been in Stars Hollow twice. Once as a part of a school project and once when he came home on his first break from military school. He just wanted to be reminded of her by something tangible. He didn't even really want to see her; he just wanted to remember her more vividly. He was lucky not to have run into her on that trip, the town was so small, but he was assaulted with memories and emotions and he decided it wasn't good for him. He promised not to come back, he hated to remember the person he was at Chilton and it was hard to remember Rory without remembering that person, and so he decided to close that part of his life.

Rory had managed to finally fall asleep, albeit it was a fitful sleep, but sleep none the less. He pulled into her driveway, not believing that he remembered the directions that Paris had given him all those years ago, and turned off the car.

He picked Rory up, careful not to wake her and climbed the porch stairs. After two knocks Lorelai answered the door.

"Tristan?" Lorelai inquired, bewildered, "What's wrong? Is Rory okay?" Lorelai was panic stricken.

"She's just sleeping," he replied quietly.

"Why do you have her?" she asked as she ushered him back to Rory's old room.

Tristan went in and started to cover her up.

"Is she okay?" Luke asked, crazy with worry. He had just watched the exchange, knowing that Lorelai needed the answers before he did, "I'm going to go back to my apartment tonight," he understood that Lorelai probably needed to sort this out on her own and that she would call him if she needed him, "Call me as soon as you're up and I'll bring over some chocolate chip pancakes or something," he said as he kissed his fiancée.

"You're my hero," Lorelai said with a soft smile as Luke left from the side door in the kitchen.

"We need to talk," Tristan said from behind her.

"Yes we do," she agreed softly as she turned around and lead him into the living room.

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Tristan had just finished recounting the last couple of days to Lorelai and she hadn't said a word through the whole thing.

"I am sorry for what happened to your sister," she said quietly, looking him in the eye, "For both her sake and yours."

Tristan didn't like this, this calmness. It reminded him of how things got right before a hurricane approached when he was in North Carolina. The air became stale, the waters barely stirred, and the sky was devoid of anything but black, stormy clouds.

"This is why I took her away from Hartford," Lorelai yelled, jumping up from her seat on the sofa, "I wanted better, nicer people to influence her. I wanted to keep her from people with bad morals and motivations. God damn it! This wasn't supposed to happen. She was supposed to go to Harvard, travel the world. Hell, she was supposed to have the world," Lorelai said, the tears pouring down her face.

"I shouldn't have let this happen, I should have stopped it. I sheltered her too much, she trusts people too easily, always believing that the good ultimately outweighs the bad in everyone."

Tristan wanted to interject, tell Lorelai that none of this was her fault. That she couldn't have done anything. But he couldn't, he knew this guilt. He had borne the same feelings for years. He had blamed himself for what happened to Stella and he wasn't about to be a hypocrite by telling Lorelai that this wasn't her fault, whether it was or not.

And so he sat there, not saying anything or even moving. He knew this was the only thing that would help her feel only slightly better. Finally, she collapsed on the sofa and started to cry, quietly asking for the phone that was on the table beside him.

"Luke, I need you to come back here, please," Lorelai whimpered.

Tristan understood that somehow this man would be able to soothe Lorelai and he wished he had someone that could do the same for him. He stood up and walked towards the front door, "If Rory has any questions I left my number on her desk," he said quietly.

"Tristan?" Lorelai inquired, causing him to turn around, "Thank you for bringing my baby back home," Lorelai said softly.

Tristan nodded his head before closing the door behind him, understanding completely.


	8. But If You Never Try You Never Know

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. Part of plot borrowed from the lovely Jane Austen. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

So this chapter totally sucked to write. And to rewrite. And to rewrite again. And guess what? I still hate it. However, it's a necessary chapter because it's the transition between the Rory/Logan relationship and the Rory/Tristan friendship—which will lead to the Rory/Tristan relationship (as soon as Rory realizes that's what she wants and fights for it). Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for the crapiness. I figure writer's block had to hit me at some point, right?

**Cupid's Bride: **I promise to email you back as soon as my crazy life settles down. I'm going back to school in a week and my mom is driving me crazy so as soon as I get a free 15 minutes, it's all yours.

P.S. Even though this chapter sucks I still appreciate reviews. What I can't figure out is that 27 people have his story on alert but I only ever get an average of like 12 reviews per chapter. If you love the story so much, tell me so. It makes me update faster.

**But If You Never Try You'll Never Know**

Tristan was frustrated. He had promised himself a long time ago that he wouldn't let Logan hurt anyone again. Looking back, he realized that it was a silly promise to make and blamed it on his youthful self. However, Tristan hated to break promises (that was something that people like his parents and Logan did) and he especially hated to break promises to himself. He had done a lot of that lately, he realized with a sigh. One, was letting Logan hurt someone and the other broken promise was getting stuck in Rory Gilmore's life. And that's how he felt. Stuck. Stuck and frustrated. So, he decided to lace on his running shoes and go on another run, his second for the day. That always seemed to help, even if it only helped for a short time. Debating on whether to leave Stella alone (Juanita had gone to run her weekly errands); he decided the short time she would be alone would be worth it. And so he left.

It had been two weeks since the shit had hit the fan and Rory still hadn't called him. Not that he cared; he was just trying to partially fulfill his first promise to himself by stopping Logan from hurting her. He had thought they could be friends but she obviously wanted nothing to do with him. It was just as well, it kept him from breaking that second promise again.

Tristan pushed his thoughts into the corner of his mind, focusing on the music in his ears from his iPod and the pounding of his feet on the concrete below.

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"Rory, I'm worried about you," Lorelai said as she walked into the kitchen, noticing her daughter staring into a cup of coffee.

"I'm fine, mom," Rory said unconvincingly.

"Sure. Yeah, and I am not happily engaged to Luke," Lorelai finished as Rory rolled her eyes, "It might make you feel better if you called a certain person that left you their number and talk things out with them. Lord knows he deserves at least that for doing what he did."

"I don't know whether to be thankful or mad…I mean Logan and I were good before he came along," Rory pondered.

"Thankful. You and Logan were _not_ good. He made you be in an open relationship, tried to steal from your grandparents, and was an ass about it I might add, and let's not forget the topper: was the reason I have that pretty mug shot photo of you on the refrigerator."

"That was not all Logan's fault," Rory exclaimed, adamant.

"You're right. But it's not something you would have considered doing if you weren't dating him. He was a bigger influence on you than you're willing to believe," Lorelai said as she kissed her daughter on the crown of her head, "I'm glad you're home and I wish I could skip work but I have to go in today. Meet me for lunch?"

"Sure," Rory murmured as her mom closed the side door off the kitchen behind her.

Her mom was right. Tristan at least deserved to know that she was still alive and as much as she didn't want to talk to him for fear of how awkward it would be, she walked into her room with the phone to track down that number.

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Stella Dugrey was sitting reading a book in the atrium when the phone started to ring. Thinking that Juanita would answer it, she shrugged it off. After four rings she became worried. Why wasn't anyone answering the phone? Tristan was around here somewhere, surely he would answer it. Clearly that was not the case. Wanting the ringing to stop she picked up the phone that sat on a table by the door, "Hello?"

"Um, Hello. Is Tristan there?" a small but polite voice asked.

"I'm not sure. He didn't pick up the phone so he must be outside somewhere. Probably swimming or running," Stella added as an afterthought.

"Oh. Well, could you please tell him that Ro—I mean Mary called," Rory said, wondering if the person on the other line was Stella.

"Okay…wait. Did you say your name was Mary?" Stella asked as something began gnawing on her brain, this sounded familiar to her.

"Well, um, actually my name is Rory but Tristan always calls me Mary."

And that's when Stella got it. For some reason the girl that his brother had been infatuated with was calling him. And he wasn't here to take the call. Stella had always wanted to repay Tristan for how he had treated her since she left Yale: he came home every weekend that he could from Harvard to visit her and had done the same when he had been in North Carolina. He had put his social life on the back burner, hoping that he would be there when she needed him the most.

"Hello, um, is everything okay?" Rory asked, convinced that it was indeed Stella on the line.

"Yes, I'm sorry. This is Tristan's sister. I was wondering, if you didn't have any plans if you'd like to come to the house for lunch. I'm sure Tristan would like it and I would just love to meet you. I don't really have many visitors but I love to meet new people," Stella said, praying that the girl would take her up on the offer.

"Well, I had plans with my mom for lunch, but I suppose I could cancel," Rory felt bad for Stella and the knowledge that she was only accepting this invitation because of how sorry she was only made her feel worse.

"Great! We'll see you at noon then? Do you know how to get to our grandfather's house?" Stella asked, elated to be planning such a surprise behind Tristan's back.

"Yes, on both counts. It was nice talking to you, see you soon," Rory said softly before hanging up.

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Tristan couldn't wait to get into the shower. Before he had realized it he had ran for an hour and he knew his muscles would be exhausted. As he passed the atrium he noticed his sister and Juanita talking excitedly over a table that appeared to be set up for a meal.

"Stella? Are you okay?" he asked. Tristan hadn't seen her this animated since before she became pregnant.

"Yes, I'm great. Fantastic, actually," she said with a gleam in her eye, "I have a surprise for you but don't ask me about it, you'll only ruin it."

Not wanting to make that gleam disappear, he obliged her, relieved and amazed to see some normalcy in her, "Whatever Stella," he said with a gentle smile, "I'm going to take a shower and change; I'll probably be down in about 45 minutes."

"Take your time," she said in a sing-song voice.

Tristan was thankful for whatever was making her so happy. _Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't fade soon; maybe she's finally waking up._

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Rory was nervous. She wasn't sure how Tristan would react to seeing her at his house, she barely remembered him taking her home after her fight with Logan, which she still hadn't resolved, or ended. She was also worried about meeting Stella, afraid to see exactly what kind of affect Logan had had over her. After taking one final breath, she rang the doorbell.

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"Visitor's huh?" Tristan asked Stella as he entered the atrium, "Finn coming by for lunch?" he asked as he sat on the settee.

"Not exactly," Stella murmured as she sat down beside him.

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The door was opened by a very nice looking Latina woman, "Good afternoon, Ms. Gilmore," she said with a grin as she opened the door.

"Please, call me Rory," she said emphatically.

"Rory, I don't know what you did or said to Stella but I have not seen her this alive for many years," the woman whispered conspiratorially, mistaking Rory for an old friend that called to see Stella.

"Well, I don't think I did much…Um, thanks," Rory started to say before Juanita ushered her to lunch, finally conceded and followed.

Rory prayed that the afternoon not go as badly as she anticipated before stepping into the atrium, glancing around at the wonderful indoor garden, noting the exotic plants and fish pond in the center.

Tristan couldn't believe his eyes. Here was Rory Gilmore, after avoiding him for weeks he was sure she just didn't care to talk to him and here she was in his house, again. The sight baffled him and he let it show on his face.

"I take it you didn't know I was coming," she said, glancing to her shoes after seeing his expression.

"Not exactly," his voice trailing off.

"Rory! It's so nice to meet you. Tristan's friends never call and never come to visit him," she said excitedly, "Tristan, I hope you don't mind that I took it upon myself to invite her for lunch," he added hurriedly.

"No, not at all Stella. If I had known you wanted me to have people over I would have done so," he said kindly.

Rory could tell that she was not wanted here by Tristan, he was obviously still mad at her for being with Logan after what he did to Stella. And yet, he was tolerating the situation for his sister. Suddenly, she wished she'd spent more time with Gigi and made a mental note to do so.

"I've heard a lot about you," Rory said to Stella as the strawberry blonde gave her a hug. Rory thought that Stella was beautiful, she could tell that her body was used to carrying more weight, as her cheeks were sunken in, but she couldn't deny that the woman's emerald eyes and strawberry blonde hair left a breathtaking affect, "I'm roommates with Paris Gellar and she told me that you were one of the nicest people she'd ever met," Rory said with a shy smile. She observed Stella and noticed that she had the undisturbed ingénue thing down pat. And sadly, Rory realized that she was more Logan's type than she ever realized.

"Paris! I miss her Tristan, we should have her come visit soon," she directed towards Tristan, to Rory she asked, "How is she? I think about her sometimes and wonder how she is."

Rory didn't know how to talk about Paris without mentioning Yale and the paper, which would surely remind Stella of Logan. She glanced at Tristan and at his nod she responded, "She's great. We both go to Yale and write for the paper. She has the religion beat and she loves it," Rory said with a chuckle, "She's dating the editor, Doyle. She's opened up a lot since high school," Rory added as an afterthought.

Though Stella was reminded of her time at Yale and her acquaintance on the _Yale Daily News_, she covered well and changed the subject, "So Rory, tell me about yourself. I vaguely remember Tristan talking about you when he was at Chilton," she said with a teasing smile towards Tristan who immediately looked towards the fish pond, "I do know other stuff as well, you can't be a member of the Gilmore clan without gossip following you around, although most of the things I've heard are about your mother."

Rory sighed, her mother's reputation was a notorious one.

"I didn't mean to be rude just then," Stella sputtered, "I mean my grandfather speaks highly of her, he says she knew exactly how to make a party more entertaining. I just wanted you to know that you didn't have to explain how your mother had you when she was 16 and all," Stella said with a smile that asked to be forgiven.

"No, you weren't being rude. I was just thinking about how my mother's reputation always precedes me. She's a lot more outgoing than I am so people are naturally surprised that I'm nothing like her."

"Well, I think you're charming," Stella said as Juanita carried in the lunch.

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"Rory, I hate to break up the party but I'm getting kind of tired. Tristan, you should catch up with Rory before she goes. If you two will excuse me I think I'll go up to my room," Stella said with a smile as she exited the atrium. She could see why Tristan admired the girl so much. She was intelligent, beautiful and funny. But when Stella had remarked on the girl's attributes the young woman blushed fiercely and softly thanked her, making it obvious to Stella that her best feature was her humility.

Tristan insisted on escorting Stella to her room and asked her if she needed anything and the actions surprised Rory. It seemed to her that he cared deeply for his sister and had matured a lot since Chilton.

"What?" Tristan asked, noting the strange look on Rory's face.

"I was just thinking that military school has done wonders for you. You are more mature, more attentive, and you haven't made one lewd remark since my grandparent's party."

"Well, we can change that," Tristan teased, "And then you can take off your clothes," he said, attempting not to smile.

"That's more like the Tristan I knew," Rory said drolly.

"In all seriousness, military school did change me. I mean, it's hard to go from getting everything you want to getting little things you need. My first challenge weekend I had to clean all of the M-16s; by the end my hands were raw and bleeding. You learn humility and discipline in the military. I'm just thankful I didn't end up making a career out of it, I don't know what Stella would do if I had gone to war. Grandpa's not getting any younger."

Rory gave him a genuine smile, "Well, I'm impressed with how much you've grown up," she said.

Tristan was not used to being garnered with praise and he simply smiled nervously back and an awkward silence settled over the two.

"So," Tristan said, not knowing how to approach Rory without his sister as a buffer.

"So. I'm sorry about all this. You obviously didn't want me to be here. It's just that I called to talk to you and when I told your sister who I was she insisted that I come for lunch," Rory said, trying to excuse herself from the room.

"That's the thing. I can't figure out why she reacted the way she did. I mean, it's been a while since I mentioned you and she hasn't exactly been all there the past few years," Tristan said, puzzled.

Rory tried miserably to hide the look of hurt on her face, "She obviously must have me mistaken for someone else then. I think I confused her when I told her to tell you that Mary called."

"Oh," the realization hit Tristan hard. His sister had remembered quite a bit. He had never mentioned that his Mary in high school had been Rory Gilmore. Her identity and appearance were the only things that Stella didn't know about her. She obviously thought that he'd still had a thing for her. _Who are you fooling?_ A voice in his head nagged. Sure, he thought she was still attractive physically but there was something missing from the Rory he knew. This one was missing that sparkle and he wondered if she had simply become jaded. _Besides, she has a lot of things to work through that I don't want to become involved in._

Rory couldn't believe Tristan was being so rude. After all, she came here to thank him and after what had seemed like their normal discourse just a few minutes prior had turned sour, Tristan giving monosyllabic responses, "Well, I just wanted to thank you again for taking me home that night," Rory said, her eyes on the floor between them.

"You okay?" Tristan asked, genuinely concern. He certainly didn't want for her to be upset, it killed him that Logan had gotten to her that night.

"I don't know," she replied quietly, "I don't even know if I'm still dating Logan. I mean I don't remember definitively breaking up with him," she said with a sigh, "It certainly doesn't help that he keeps calling my cell phone. I asked my grandparents not to tell him where I was and they were shocked. Especially when he stopped by, they think I'm being rude and they were upset when they discovered I had unceremoniously moved back home," Rory couldn't believe she was divulging this much information, it's not like Tristan acted interested.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe you should call him and resolve the argument," he said, angry that she obviously still wanted to be with the jerk.

Rory looked at him strangely, "I don't want to resolve anything," she said, indignant, "I just want it to be done with so I can figure out what to do next with my life," she said before turning and storming out of the atrium.

_That was nice, DuGrey. That's definitely the way to becoming Rory's friend._

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Halfway to Stars Hollow, Rory sighed. She had forgotten to tell Tristan to call her mother. Lorelai had insisted that she do so so that she could properly thank him for all of his help. Besides, Lorelai had said he was nice and wanted to treat him to Sookie's famous risotto. _I can't very well go back. _She sighed, deciding that the best thing to do was to call tomorrow. Maybe he'd be on a run and she could relay the message through Stella or the maid, she thought, optimistically.


	9. Just What You're Worth

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. Part of plot borrowed from the lovely Jane Austen. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

So this is part 2 of the transitional chapter and is possibly crappier than the previous one. Although, all of you loved the last chapter so I may be completely off. You probably will all love this chapter tons too. Here's hoping. There's no greater feeling than having people tell you that what you think is crap is really diamonds. Not that I'm fishing for compliments, it's just that I have a bad case of writer's block and have started to dread finishing this story. But don't worry, I will finish. I never give up on things.

Thanks for putting me over 100 reviews, I love it!

**Gilmoregirls7878: **In answer to your email: yes (I am being vague and cryptic for reasons).

**Sea4Shoes:** Thanks you for your faithful reviews, they are constant and I love them. I'm sorry to hear about your friend and I hope things turn out okay for her. Unfortunately, all that you might be able to do to help is be there for her, which is sometimes a powerful gift.

**ProblemChild1:** Thanks. I think Lorelai's the hardest to write. A lot of people write Lorelai in a way that leaves me cringing. It's like they think she has ADD and they ignore some of her greater, more clear and rational moments. I hope I don't do that here. I just think that now that Rory's home Lorelai would be a little giddier.

**Courtney:** Thanks! I've never left someone breathless before by just writing. It usually takes a smart ass remark and a kick to the stomach! (Just kidding).

**Zeze:** By far the most flattering review I've gotten. (Me gushing) Thanks, it really helped make writing this chapter easier.

**Just What You're Worth**

"Okay, so apparently Logan needs a refresher course on religion," Lorelai mumbled to her daughter as she entered the kitchen.

"Why?" Rory asked warily as she read _The Stars Hollow Gazette_.

"Well, he doesn't seem to understand that when a person is granted sanctuary, said person does so in order to evade danger and imprisonment," Lorelai replied drolly.

Rory chuckled, "Good one mom, what did he do now?"

"There are many bouquets of flowers on the porch," Lorelai said, "Like that is going to make you forgive him for what he did to Stella."

"Oh," Rory said, obviously not expecting something so normal in romantic relationships.

"Well, you want to throw them in the blender?" Lorelai asked mischievously.

"No, that would require energy fueled by anger which would mean that I cared enough to be angry," Rory said while glancing back at the paper, "Besides, it looks like Frank's got hit hard this week. He could probably use the donations."

"Oh?" Lorelai asked, her interest piqued, "Who bit the dust this week?"

"You know the guy that ran the carwash then turned it into the antique toy museum?"

"No! Don't tell me that Gilbert Whositwhatsit died! He was so nice, we had some good times."

"That's funny, considering you can't remember that his last name was Jones. Anyway, Mrs. Brown died too. I think that Frank would appreciate the donation."

"Oh, that's sweet babe, I can't wait to hear you tell Logan that the hundreds of dollars he spent on flowers went to an old man that would ride an Oscar Meyer wiener pedal car around town and the resident cat lady," Lorelai said with a grin.

"You have no shame."

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"Ace? I'm glad you called. You must have gotten the flowers." Logan said, thankful that Rory had finally called him back.

"Yes, Frank thanks you," Rory replied.

"Frank?"

"He runs the local funeral parlor. But that's not why I called; I was wondering if we could meet for a cup of coffee in Hartford."

"Oh yeah, sure. How about 10:30?"

"Sounds good, see you then," Rory said and before she hit the end button she had thought she heard Logan say that he missed her.

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Rory sat at a small table next to the window and patiently waited for Logan. She was excited; in about 10 minutes she'd be free of him and could figure out what to do next. Logan appeared while she was creating a list of things she wanted to sort out in her head.

"Ace, sorry if I'm late. Now what is it you wanted to talk about?" Logan asked hurriedly as he sat down opposite to her.

"First off, thanks for meeting me. I didn't want to have to do this over the phone. I figured everyone deserves to be dumped in person. And so that there's no confusion, that's what this is. I don't want to see you, talk to you or hear from you again. If we meet at some function I will be civil. Nothing more, nothing less."

Logan couldn't believe that he was hearing this. He had never been dumped before in his life. He was always the one to say that things weren't working out anymore, but could we still be friends? The thought that this simple girl from some small town was dumping him infuriated him.

"I suppose it's for the best. I probably wouldn't have dated you much longer anyway," he spat, "It's not like you would have been a suitable match. My parents didn't think you were good enough, and I agree. I knew you weren't worth getting into a serious relationship with; it's just my luck that I never cut Patrice off though. Now that would have been tragic."

Rory looked him in the eye and softly said, "That's too bad. I was hoping that this could've remained civil. If that's how you honestly feel, then I'm relieved. And you're right, it is good that you still have Patrice. I wouldn't want you to have to be alone for the first time in your life. I didn't want to upset you or anything," she said angrily as she excused herself from the restaurant.

It was hard for Rory to breathe. Even though she knew what Logan had said had been meant to hurt her and was probably not true, it still hurt. She always had had these adequacy problems since she was little. Her father's parents hadn't wanted anything to do with her, she was never good enough to make her father stick around, and her last relationship prior to the one with Logan had ended without so much as a goodbye. _So much for being special._

In order to hide from the prying eyes as the tears streamed down her face, Rory ducked into a bookstore and made her way to the poetry section. Depressing times like these called for the sarcastic words of Dorothy Parker and she reached for a volume of poetry, praying that the prose would put a smile on her face.

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Tristan had left the house in order to evade his sister's prying questions about Rory Gilmore and had found his way to his favorite bookstore. Upon seeing a petite brunette holed up in the corner he inwardly sighed.

"I had you pegged as a Parker fan, but still I amaze my self sometimes."

Rory looked up at the sound of the familiar voice, tears trickling down her porcelain cheeks.

"Rory, what's wrong?"

"I just got done breaking up with Logan," she muttered, "And before you go thinking that I'm regretting breaking up with him, you're wrong. He just said some not nice stuff and I let it get to me."

Tristan was beginning to realize that his least favorite thing was seeing Rory Gilmore cry. For some reason it caused a dull pain to spread through his chest. And over the past few days he had seen enough of her tears to make him think there was something medically wrong with him, "What did he say," the anger clouding his sapphire eyes.

"He just said some stuff about me not being good enough for him. And that he was happy he didn't give up all of his little 'girlfriends'. Even though he said he was ready to be in a committed relationship, that I didn't have to do an open relationship, no-strings-attached arrangement anymore."

"He said you weren't good enough for him?" Tristan asked, astounded, "You have to know that that is complete bullshit. I mean, you are one of the nicest people I've ever met. You are kind and generous to everyone and would never intentionally hurt someone you care about. Which is more than anyone could say about Logan."

"Yeah, it just still hurts, you know?" She said, again looking into his eyes.

"Yeah, I know. And what is this about you two being in an arrangement?"

Rory snorted, "That pretty much takes the cake. In the beginning he said he couldn't commit; that he wasn't boyfriend material. Instead, I let him date other people and when he became uncomfortable with me dating other guys, he accused me of trying to force him to be my steady boyfriend."

"You don't strike me as the type of person that would be in an open relationship," Tristan murmured as he sat down next to her on the floor.

"Well, what can I say. I wanted him. He was the first guy that I was interested in that wasn't interested in me too. I just was willing to do anything to have him. So I lowered my self to his emotional level. I know it sounds weird, but I was so desperate."

"It doesn't sound weird at all," Tristan murmured. _I know that feeling all too well, that wanting something so bad that you lose a part of who you thought you were and wanted to be. In my case it benefited me in the outcome, although I never got what I wanted._

"I'm just surprised. I mean, of all the relationships I've had, they were always monogamous. I never thought to cheat on my girlfriends. If I got that urge I would simply break up with them and move on," Tristan ran his hands through his hair, "Which isn't much better. But I never slept with or dated more than one girl at a time; it's basically telling that person that they don't deserve you're undivided attention. That's no way to treat a girl like you," Tristan said as he wiped a tear of her cheek.

"I'm sorry I freaked out at your house yesterday," Rory whispered, mesmerized by his gaze.

"Me too, I guess I'm just oversensitive when it comes to things with Logan," Tristan sighed and pulled his hand back, "It's just that I promised myself that I wouldn't let him hurt another person, another family."

"While that is an admirable goal, it shouldn't be your responsibility. You should be able to get past it and realize that you can't save everyone. That maybe saving one person from that kind of hurt is enough," she said with a small smile.

"I agree, I'm glad that you broke things off. But I still don't think I can let go. And if we're going to be friends than you're going to have to understand that."

"You want to be my friend?"

"Well, isn't' it obvious?"

"Not until now, but I do understand. And I would love to be your friend," Rory replied as Tristan pulled her up from the ground, "It's funny that we ran into one another. I was going to call you today."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, mom wanted me to invite you to lunch at her inn. She is really thankful for you bringing me home and she thinks that it would be a nice way to show you her gratitude. After yesterday's fiasco I was sure you would decline," Rory said with a smile, "But now that we're friends, I really don't think there's anyway out of it," she finished as they strolled out of the store.

"Sounds like I'm trapped. You want to head there now?" Tristan asked with a smirk.

"Sounds good."

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Tristan finished as grins spread over both of their faces.


	10. When You Feel So Tired

Characters are all Amy Sherman Palladino's and the WB's as are basic plots. Part of plot borrowed from the lovely Jane Austen. The title and chapter names are borrowed from Coldplay's beautiful song and sadly, are not owned by me. This is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy.

**ProblemChild1:** Likewise when I see that you've reviewed.

**Bumpy Rider: **Thanks, I'm flattered that you think it's amazing.

**Fallen Heart: **That's a good idea, one that will present itself in the future. Just not now, these two have gone through enough drama, I think I'll give them a reprieve for a bit.

**KTMO: **Thanks!

**Cupid's Bride: **I concur, and go ahead with the story, I can't wait to read it…it will be so funny! I should set up a support group…I never meant for this story to become addictive!

I am leaving on Thursday on a cross-country road trip to go back to school. How this pertains to you: Who knows when I'll stay in a hotel with internet connection, so who knows when I'll update. But I'll have my laptop and will type up and post whatever I have written as soon as I can. You just have to be patient, but I promise when I get to school things will be normal.

P.S. I'm running out of lyrics for chapter titles so I'll have to come up with them on my own!

**When You Feel So Tired**

"Oooh, ooh! Tell him about the time we egged Jess's car!" Lorelai squealed as she, Rory, and Tristan finished up their lunch.

"You egged a guy's car?" Tristan asked, disbelievingly, "That's horrible. Don't you know that eggs strip paint off of cars?"

"Yes I know that. We deviled egged his car—not that it would've mattered, that car was a piece of crap anyway."

"Wow, I can't believe you had it in you to do something so rebellious. The guy must have done something horrible," Tristan mused.

"Well, it wasn't a good weekend. My dad's girlfriend was having a baby shower in Boston and when my mom drove up there to drop me off Sheri, my dad's girlfriend, invited her inn," Rory explained.

"Wow, that must have been awkward," Tristan said as he glanced towards Lorelai.

"About as awkward as being stuck under an elephant," Lorelai snorted.

"Anyway, my mom was really upset because, well, because it wasn't her. You know?" Tristan nodded his understanding. "So she tried to mess up Sheri's medicine cabinet because the woman's house was so organized and tidy."

Lorelai interrupted, "Seriously. Who keeps their apartment that neat? I swear, that woman had OCD or something. All of her CDs were in alphabetical order by artist name then album title—it was ridiculous," Lorelai told Tristan emphatically, "And then this one," Lorelai pointed at Lorelai, "She had to go and clean the mess I made."

"Mom, she would've known it was you. Besides, egging Jess's car was so much better."

"You're right," Lorelai said with a grin on her face.

"Anyway, Sheri made us take about three dozen deviled eggs home with us and as we passed through the center of town I saw Jess's car. Now at this point things with Jess and I were a little strange. I had kissed him before going to Washington for Chilton and when I got back he had got himself a trashy girlfriend. He and I were not on good terms," Rory took a deep breath before diving back in, "Needless to say, throwing eggs at a car that belonged to someone that both my mom and I hated was very cathartic."

"God, the smell! Do you remember the smell?" Lorelai said as she laughed.

"It was horrible," Rory agreed.

Through lunch Tristan had been observing Rory and Lorelai's relationship and although he could see that it was still strained, they obviously loved one another. The two had insisted on regaling him with many stories, all of which fascinated him.

"Remind me not to get on your guys' bad side," Tristan said with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah, you don't want to mess with a Gilmore. We're wily," Lorelai said with a mischievous smile, "What about you Tristan, you have any good stories?"

"None as good as that one, there aren't many opportunities to pull stunts like that at military school, although I did manage to squeeze in a few. I'll tell you about my favorite one," Tristan began

Rory realized that this lunch had been the most fun she'd had since the week before finals. Things with her mom were better, the food was good, and the conversation was animated. She decided she liked being Tristan's friend very much as she listened to his story.

"The punishment for doing and saying certain things at military school was doing as many pushups as you were told to while you recited what it was you were being punished for. Now, normally it's a pain in the ass but on one occasion it was the funniest thing ever," Tristan said.

"Pushups do not sound funny," Rory replied.

"Well, on this particular day, our PT was being run by Matthews, this real pain in the ass guy. He was bossing all of the younger cadets around and spitting in their face. It really pissed me off because this guy was no better than the rest of us but was acting like he was God or something, so I called him a douche bag. Not one of my best insults but it had its affect. Anyway, Matthews thought he had the upper hand and he ordered the whole platoon to do 75 pushups for me calling him that. What Matthews forgot was that the whole platoon has to say what the punishment's for when they count them down. So, over and over again, with grins on our faces, we yelled at the top of our lungs, 'One for DuGrey calling Matthews a douche bag. Two for DuGrey calling Matthews a douche bag!'" Tristan explained as the two women opposite him burst out laughing. "Anyway, we all decided that it was well worth it, Matthews' face was red for days."

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Tristan strolled into the atrium, a grin plastered on his face. The lunch at the Dragonfly Inn had been a reprieve from everyday life and for that he was grateful.

"Looks like you heard the good news, mate," Finn said as Tristan walked through the door.

"Where's Stella?"

"I'm good, thanks for asking," Finn deadpanned and with a knowing smirk he added, "She's up getting her paints. I convinced her to paint me a picture of that orchid over there," he said, obviously proud of himself.

"Wow, good work, seems that you still have your game. In all seriousness, thanks. I haven't had much luck getting her to do things that she used to love."

"That's because you lack my charm. Anyway, I assume you heard that the saga that was Rory and Logan has ended. And by the looks of the smile on your face, I'm assuming you were there to pick up the pieces."

"I have heard that Rory broke up with Logan, but there were no pieces to pick up. Rory handled things surprisingly well. The smile happens to be the result of a lunch that I had with Rory and her mom, whom you would like because she is hilarious," Tristan finished, matter-of-factly.

"I have actually informally met Ms. Gilmore and I'm pretty sure she's not fond of me. You see, I said some inappropriate things in her presence while waiting to bail Logan out of jail for the yacht heist."

Tristan burst out laughing and said cryptically as he heard Stella come down the stairs, "If I were you, I would not park my car anywhere near Stars Hollow!"

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"So," Lorelai said as she got back from work to find Rory on the couch reading.

"So," Rory said as she looked up.

"That was a fun lunch we had today. I take it we'll be seeing a lot more of Tristan in the future," she said as she wagged her eyebrows.

"It was fun, wasn't it?" Rory asked wistfully, "And we will be seeing more of Tristan, he seems like a good friend and I can always use one of those."

"Friend? Is that all there is?"

"Yes, Tristan and I are far too different to be more than friends. Besides, I don't think the idea of me dating Logan is a turn on to him…it probably disgusts him," Rory muttered.

"Before I forget, Paris called my cell looking for you. She was frantic when you wouldn't answer yours. I'm not sure I feel comfortable with Paris having my cell number and I'm not sure I want to know how she got it," Lorelai said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, thanks. I'll call her in a bit. What do you want for dinner?"

"Well, Luke has to close tonight so I was thinking we order in from Al's and then watch a movie. I had a case of the mean reds this morning before you guys showed up for lunch and since then I've been dying to go to Tiffany's." Lorelai hollered from the kitchen.

"I love George Peppard," Rory said as Lorelai came back into the living room, phone in hand, "It's too bad what happened to his career in the 80s."

"If you are referring to the classic show that was _The A Team_ then you are blasphemous!"

"Yeah, yeah. 'I pity the fool'."

"And don't you forget it," Lorelai added before hitting the blinking message button on the answering machine.

"Rory this is your grandmother. Remember me? Anyway, your grandfather and I were wondering if you were still planning on coming to dinner on Friday. We haven't heard from you since you called on Wednesday and wanted to know if we should expect you. Please call me back, and say hello to your mother for me."

"Grandma says hello," Rory muttered from the couch.

"Got the memo, thanks," Lorelai muttered back, "Hurry up and put that movie on, I think the mean reds are slipping back up," she added as she plopped down on the couch.

"Got it," Rory said with a sigh. The last thing she wanted to do was have dinner with her grandparents.


	11. But You Can't Sleep

So I am so sorry this is taking so long. The road trip was insane and school has been crazy. I just got done watching the season premiere and I'm so pissed. Rory is the dumbest person ever. And that judge, totally my new best friend. Paris as well, she TOTALLY kicked ass.

I hope you guys like this chapter and find it realistic. I really enjoyed writing it and am glad it was easier to do than I thought it would be.

SuP3R G1R: I wish this fic was real too….

Problem Child1: Thank you, I'm glad you love my story. How weird was the whole Paris/Lorelai thing in the premiere? And Luke asking if she gave her real number? ASP was channeling me…it's the only explanation.

Sweetestdream2182: Why thank you, I'm glad to have shown you the light. Although I had a feeling after the premiere that Logan is upset with Rory for dropping out of school…if this is the case he is a far better man than I thought.

MzFreak: It is an honor that you like my story. Especially considering I'm obsessed with The Best of You. Truly, an honor.

Shirlyytb: Thank you very much for the review.

**But You Can't Sleep**

Rory sighed as she laid her head against her grandparent's front door that she had just closed behind her. She had just told them that while they appreciated Richard's resources, Lorelai and Rory had no intention of using his lawyer. Lorelai had managed to find someone that would work just fine. It seemed to fuel Emily's anger. She had just finished lecturing Rory for leaving the pool house without so much as a, "Hey, I'm gonna head back home now," and for treating Logan the way she had.

"_You're telling me that _I _treated Logan wrongly?" Rory asked with disbelief._

"_It was incredibly rude to do to a family acquaintance, yes," Richard argued._

"_Do you two know what he did to Stella DuGrey? Who, I believe, is also a friend of the family?" _

"_That was Logan?" Emily asked as realization dawned on her._

"_Yes, and if you must know, that is why I broke up with him," Rory muttered._

"_What in God's name are you talking about, what would Logan do that would possibly be worth breaking—" Richard was interrupted._

"_Richard, I want to change the subject now," Emily said sternly, "We will discuss this later." _

Rory hated talking about Logan, which was the best part of hanging out with Tristan. Tristan never wanted to talk about Logan.

"Hello?" Rory answered her cell phone.

"I was thinking some gelato might improve the evening," a familiar voice interrupted her reverie.

"I was just thinking about you," Rory said with a smile, "Throw in some coffee and you have a deal."

"I'll meet you at Giacomo's in ten minutes," Tristan said as he hung up his cell phone.

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"I really needed this," Rory said as they waited in line to order.

"Three cups of coffee, one raspberry gelato and," Tristan said to the waitress and turned to Rory.

"One Triple Fudge please,"

"Let's say we take this outside, it's a warm night," Tristan said as he juggled two coffees, his gelato, and the door.

"Sounds good," Rory mumbled, a large bite of triple fudge in her mouth.

The two took a seat at one of the tables outside the tiny restaurant and Tristan asked to be briefly excused.

"Where are you going?" Rory asked, a small glint of concern in her eyes.

"I'm just going to run this cup of coffee over to the guy on the bench over there, I thought he could use it," Tristan said as he backed away, cup of black coffee in his hand.

As Tristan walked back over after talking to the man for a few minutes Rory asked, "You bought him a cup of coffee?"

"Like I said, he looked like he could use one," Tristan said bashfully avoiding the praise in her eyes.

"That is the sweetest th—"

Tristan interrupted, "You don't want to go saying things like that. We wouldn't want my ego to get any bigger, would we?"

"That would be tragic," Rory said softly, amazed at Tristan's thoughtfulness and generosity. Logan's family had donated many dollars to many charities around the world, but this simple gesture just seemed so much grander than all that.

"So what were you two talking about?" Rory asked, changing the subject.

"He said that I was very fortunate to have such a beautiful girlfriend and thank you for the coffee," Tristan said, a small smile on his lips.

Rory sucked in a breath of cool air.

"I of course had to tell him that we were just friends and then he called me an idiot," Tristan said chuckling.

"Oh," Rory said.

"That wasn't supposed to make you feel uncomfortable. I love being your friend. You're probably one of the better friends that I've had," Tristan murmured.

"Oh," Rory muttered, trying to disguise the disappointment in her voice. Before Tristan could ask her what the look on her face meant his phone rang.

"Hello? Oh, Melinda. Hi," Rory looked down into her coffee at the sound of another girl's name. "You're in town? Yeah, I could do dinner tomorrow night. Sure, I'll see you then. Good night," Tristan said as he hung his phone up.

"Sorry about that, I never answer my phone in the company of others but I didn't recognize the number and I worry too much about Stella to ignore a call."

"Oh no, it's fine. Don't worry," Rory said curtly.

"That was a friend of mine from Harvard. She's in Hartford visiting her grandparents and wanted to meet up with him," he explained.

"Oh. That's good," Rory said softly, avoiding his gaze.

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"How was your night?" Lorelai asked as Rory collapsed on the armchair next to the sofa where she and Luke sat.

"Horrible. Tristan is going out to dinner with some girl tomorrow night," Rory exhaled.

"Wow, so when I asked how your night was I was referring to the dinner with the grandparents. But obviously this is more important," Lorelai said as she hit the pause button on the remote control.

Luke got up off the couch, "I'm going to go clean up the dishes, I'll be back in a few minutes," he said lightly kissing Rory on the crown of her head. Lorelai had told him all about this new guy that had walked into their lives and as much as he wanted to meet and approve of said guy first, he had a gut feeling that lead him to understand that this guy was an okay thing.

Lorelai gave look a small amazed look at Luke and turned back to Rory, "So, you're evidently upset that Tristan has a date with a girl." Lorelai said, easing into the conversation.

"Yeah, I am. She called right after he gave a homeless man a cup of coffee," Rory said, exasperated.

"I'm sorry, where where were you two? The YMCA?" Lorelai asked, confused.

"No, we went to Giacomo's for gelato and coffee. He bought an extra coffee for a man playing the saxophone in the middle of the square." Rory said softly.

"He bought a homeless saxophone player coffee," Lorelai stated with an adoring look on her face.

"Yep. And then he accepted a dinner date from another girl."

"Oh honey, It'll be okay. He really answered his phone when you guys were out for gelato?"

"He didn't recognize the number and because of Stella, he never ignores a call. It was some girl from Harvard that's in town visiting her grandparents or something," Rory muttered.

"I can tell this upsets you. But I'm still trying to decide why it bothers you," Lorelai said slowly.

"I don't know, he's my friend and I like spending time with him."

"Right. He's your friend. Last time I checked there were no such thing as an exclusive friend. Logan had lots of friends, so did Dean and, well no one but you liked Jess so," Lorelai stopped because of the look Rory shot her, "My point is that you can't say that you want to be just his friend one minute and get mad the next when he makes plans with a different friend."

"I know I'm just being stupid. I'll get over it."

"Maybe you shouldn't get over it," Lorelai said softly, "Maybe you should do something about it quickly, before this other friend decides to do the same thing."

"Mom—"

"No, I'm serious hun. This boy is something big. I can tell, I can feel that this is something you shouldn't let slip away," she said softly as Luke walked in from the kitchen.

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That night Rory slept fitfully. Her dreams were consumed with Tristan and what it would be like to be with him. When she awoke, she knew she had to do something, because her mom was right, this was something really big.


	12. But Not What You Need

So it's been forever and a year since I've updated. Sorry, but I haven't exactly been inspired. That is until the fantastic Jess came to jar Rory from her new pseudo-life. I'm so stoked and totally love Jess now, because I used to sorta hate him. All's forgiven though. Hope you guys like.

**Muffin aux carottes:** Every girl should want to marry someone like Tristan. Although, I have found a new TV character obsession that is replacing him in my marriage fantasies.

**Mystripedskirt:** I agree, Logan is an extremely poor replacement for Tristan. Long live the original 'poor little rich blonde boy who has an infatuation with our favorite younger Gilmore girl'!

And to all others who review (and forgive me for this taking forever), thanks! It means the world to me. Really, sorry this chapter is shorter; I had to cut it off where I did. The next chapter will start with the dinner, and boy will it be fun!

**But Not What You Need**

Rory was nursing a cup of coffee at Luke's pondering what she should do when her friend walked through the door.

"Lane!" Rory exclaimed, jumping up from the table to envelope the girl in a bear hug.

"Rory, it's been forever. Let's never part again," the small girl said as they sat down at a table by the window.

"I concur. Now, the good stuff. How was your tour? I'm so jealous I missed out, I mean, we always made plans that I would be a groupie to your Jerry Garcia."

"Right, you were going to drop out of school to follow me around the country," Lane said excitedly before remember her friend's current educational state. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring anything like that up."

"No, it's okay," Rory murmured as she glanced out at the gazebo in the center of town.

"Well, the tour was fabulous. I still can't believe Mama went to all that trouble. Sometimes I forget how much of a force she can be. Zach and I are still great; we are always either laughing or fighting, which makes us seem like an actual grown-up couple."

"That's good. I'm happy to hear that," Rory mumbled, still gazing out of the window.

"So," Lane started softly, "How are you?"

"I'm okay. Things get better each day," Rory said, turning her gaze back to Lane.

"You really broke up with Logan?" Lane asked, holding her breath.

"Yes, definitely."

"Good, because, and I mean this in the nicest way possible, I really didn't like the 'Rory that was with Logan.' I preferred the 'Rory that was with Jess,' which is saying a lot considering he and I never got along really well," Lane rambled.

"Yeah. Well, a lot of people didn't like 'Rory that was with Logan' and I officially became a member of the group a couple weeks ago," Rory said drolly.

"About that," Lane started, "How are things with Tristan and his sister?" Lane had managed to make a few frantic phone calls during the past weeks as the band wrapped up the tour and she had been almost completely briefed on all things Rory.

"Weird. I mean, he and I got together last night for coffee and gelato and it was so nice," Rory said wistfully.

"Right. That just screams bizarre to me," Lane pressed for more.

"No, the weird part comes when he accepted a dinner date from some girl that called him, resulting in me realizing that I don't want him to go on said dinner date," Rory muttered.

"Ah, so you have a thing for Tristan?"

"No," Rory started but changed course upon noticing Lane's knowing glare, "Okay, so yeah, I may have a thing for Tristan. But it doesn't matter because I'm totally the last person that needs to try to start a relationship," she paused to take a deep breath.

"Besides, I have a lot of stuff I have to figure out with me first," she added.

"But you can't just let him go on a date if you have feelings for him," Lane insisted.

"What am I supposed to say? 'Gee, Tristan. I know we don't really know each other that well but I think I might really like you. And can you please not go out with Melinda tonight because I don't want you to? Even though I don't want to date you right now, because, well, you've got your life together and are doing great but I need to figure out what I'm doing first?' He'd look at me like I have three heads. And I must to even entertain the thought that Tristan Dugrey would ever want to date me," Rory said with a huff.

"Maybe that's exactly what you should say," Lane said softly, letting her words wash over Rory.

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"Tristan, hey," Stella said as she saw him enter the kitchen.

"Hello gorgeous," he said as he kissed her on the temple and gave her a hug.

"Well, Tristan, I know that I'm beautiful but I don't think you should say such things in front of your innocent sister. She may get the wrong idea," Finn said from the table where he was munching on some pie.

"I think we should drop this charade of ours, Finn," Tristan sighed as he collapsed on the chair across from the Aussie, "It's too hard to refrain from expressing my undying love and affection for you," he added dryly.

Stella, who was laughing from the boys' hysterics interjected, "Finn! How dare you betray me with my own brother? That's low, even for you!"

Finn, who had gotten up from the table to carry his plate over to where Juanita was finishing up some dishes, wrapped Stella in an embrace and bent over her, "Stella, my love, I could never cheat on you," he said, adding in a wistfully cliché voice, "How could I betray my better half?"

Tristan observed the two and silently thanked God for Finn's involvement in his sister's life. Whenever the man was around she seemed to have a gait in her step and a twinkle in her eye that had been MIA since the pregnancy fiasco.

"So Tristan, your sister informs me that you had a secret rendezvous with one Rory Gilmore last night," Finn said smugly as he and Stella joined Tristan at the table.

Tristan, who shot his sister a disapproving glance nonchalantly said, "It was no secret, I just knew she was having dinner with the grandparents and might need some chill time before driving back to Stars Hollow."

"How is she doing with everything," Finn asked candidly.

"Better than expected. We had a fun time, had some coffee and gelato at Giacomo's and she seemed to enjoy herself," he said, glancing at Stella.

"You know, I appreciate that you want to protect me Tristan," Stella said softly, "But maybe what I need is for someone to be open and honest. Finn filled me in on what happened with Logan and Rory. And, I will admit to being surprised but it doesn't hurt me. It's not like I expected Logan to join a monastery because he was so guilt-ridden."

Finn snorted, "I think Logan would rather work for his father than become a monk."

"Anyway, it doesn't matter what Logan is doing with his life. Although I am pleased to hear that Rory broke up with him and is dealing with the situation so well. I really like her. And I want you to call her up and invite her to dinner. I was thinking we could have Rory, Paris and her boyfriend, and of course Finn here for a little dinner party."

"Wait. Isn't Gellar dating Doyle?" Finn directed towards Stella.

"That's what Rory said. Which reminds me, you will be on your best behavior. I don't want my guests to be subjected to your torments," Stella said, shooting Finn a serious glare.

"If you are referring to the unfortunate incident that Doyle had to endure our sophomore year I am sorry to say I have no idea what you're talking about," Finn said, his nose in the air.

"I know full well it was you who gave Logan the idea to send a letter from Mitchum's office inviting Doyle to intern at the _Times_," Stella said sternly, "The poor boy looked like an idiot when he showed up in New York only to discover you and Colin sitting with Logan at Mitchum's desk laughing at him."

"It was his own fault to believe that the _Times_ would offer him an internship without him even submitting an application. The boy needed to be shown that he was no Bob Woodward."

"Just play nice, Finn. So, Tristan, what do you think?"

"As much fun as that sounds, I have plans tonight. My friend Melinda from Harvard called me last night to invite me to dinner, she's in town visiting family and it's been a while since we've talked," Tristan said.

"Well, Paris and Doyle already committed to coming, and only on the condition that Rory would be here. Paris is hoping to convince her not to drop out of Yale," Stella pouted.

"Well, I'll just ask Melinda to join us, is that okay?" Tristan asked.

"I really don't think that's the best idea, mate," Finn said, glancing up from the comic page of the newspaper.

"Why not?"

"Why not?" Stella sneered, "Well, it would undoubtedly be uncomfortable. Rory would be like the seventh wheel. You'll just have to try to meet your friend early and come back to the house to try to salvage the evening."

"But then Rory would be like the fifth wheel, I really don't see why Melinda couldn't join us," Tristan pointed out.

"Oh, no mate. There's enough Finn love to spread between your sister and reporter girl," Finn said quickly, noting the look of annoyance on Stella's face, "You have fun with your Harvard harlot and we'll have a nice civilized Yalie evening."

"Okay, whatever you want, I need to go call Melinda to confirm our plans," Tristan said as he stood from the table, "I'll talk to you two later."

As soon as Stella heard her brother's footsteps on the stairs leading to the second floor of the house she turned to Finn, "Give me your phone," she said quickly.

"And here I thought you kept me around for my body," he mumbled, handing her his cell phone.

"Do you have Rory's number in here?" She asked, scrolling through the contacts before hitting Gilmore.

"Yes, what are you…" Finn dropped off as Stella scowled and shushed him.

"Rory? Hi, it's Stella. I got your number from Finn. I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner here tonight. No, Tristan won't be here, he has some prior arrangement. But Paris, Doyle, and Finn will be here and we thought it wouldn't be the same without you. Oh, thank you. We'll have so much fun. See you at seven then? Okay, bye Rory."

"You are one meddlesome creature Stella," Finn chided.

"What? Is it too much that after everything that he's done for me that I want Tristan to be happy? He's been a saint and I can't help but think he and Rory deserve to be together. Tristan's been through a lot and he's grown up so much. He deserves to be happy," she finished meekly as Finn pushed her gaze up from the floor with his finger under her chin.

"You deserve to be happy too Stella. When's that going to happen, huh?" he asked as his hand grazed her cheek.


End file.
